


Where the Dream Takes You

by CocoPbblez



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allergic reaction, Altean Lance (Voltron), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Atlantis: The Lost Empire Fusion, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Blood and Injury, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Gay Keith (Voltron), Human Keith (Voltron), Keith is an awkward and nervous bab who doesn't know what he's doing, M/M, Mutual Pining, Nonbinary Pidge (Voltron), Not much of a Slow Burn tbh, Slight Hurt/Comfort, VERY loosely based off the movie, cursing, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-11
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2019-02-01 00:53:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 55,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12693684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CocoPbblez/pseuds/CocoPbblez
Summary: Keith is a linguist who's spent his whole life studying Atlantis. He's read every book ever published about it, researched every artifact tied into it, even learned the damn language. If only someone would listen to him and give him the opportunity he's been waiting for. Little did he know, that opportunity was coming a lot sooner than he thought.Loosely based of the movie Atlantis: The Lost Empire.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had so much fun writing this! I signed up for the Klance Big Bang not really knowing what it was or what to, but the community was really helpful and helped make this process really cool:) I wanna personally thank Elidanus ([Tumblr](http://elidanus.tumblr.com/)/[Twitter](https://twitter.com/kdiffin2/)) for being my lovely artist! She deserves all the love in the world<3 I also wanna thank my amazing beta, Emmie ([Tumblr](http://moonlovingvampire.tumblr.com/)/[Ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonlovingvampire)), for putting up with my mess of a story. I'm really excited to read everyone else's stories and I hope you all enjoy mine:)

Keith took a deep breath and looked over at the clock. Ten more minutes until his audience with the heads of the museum. He closed his eyes and rolled his neck to stretch it out. He was starting to get nervous, so he started shaking his hands out while slightly bouncing on his toes.

This had to go perfectly. This presentation was long overdue and Keith had no doubt in his mind that everything he’s been told, everything he’s researched, was true. He just had to make sure that this meeting went smoothly.

Those assholes had continuously postponed this for over a month. It was always one bullshit excuse after another. Someone in the family was sick, they’d had an important meeting spring up, or some other reason why they couldn’t listen to his presentation. They couldn’t keep hiding from him forever. He was going to make them understand. He can’t back down now. Everything rode on this moment.

He had been reciting his speech over and over for two hours to the point where he could probably recite it backwards. They didn’t give him a lot of time, so he had to make sure he put in as much information as possible in such a short time frame.

He looked over at his desk and picked up the picture sitting on top. It was a picture of him when he was ten sitting on his father’s knee. He was wearing his father’s old adventurer hat, but it was too big and it covered half his face. His face was beaming in the picture and his father had a look of amusement on his face.

“I’ll make you proud, dad. I promise. I won’t let your sacrifice be in vain,” Keith whispered to himself as he gently caressed the image.

He looked around his so called ‘office’ and scowled to himself. They couldn’t even give him a proper room. They just dumped him in some spare room down in the basement. There were cobwebs in every corner and between all the clutter they would just throw down here and forget about. Keith was too concerned about his research to take the time to clean and organize everything. He didn’t really mind it as long as he was able to work on his translations and locate where the Shepherd’s Journal is.

He set down the picture and started to put his things together until he heard his mail chute ring with a new message. Keith cocked his head in confusion and walked over to it. He pulled out the message and opened it.

“‘Mr. Kogane, we regret to inform you that your meeting scheduled for today must be cancelled on account of-’” Keith read and then crumpled the letter in his hands.

“No! No, I fucking refuse! They can’t do this to me again!” Keith yelled. He ran and gathered his things as quickly as he could and raced to the stairs. They were not going to run away again. He won’t let them.

As Keith reached the main hall, he noticed the heads were all heading to the entrance.

“Hey! Wait!” Keith yelled as he ran towards them.

They all stopped as they heard him and then they started running in different directions and locking themselves in different rooms. Keith tried all of the doors a head had run through to find all of them locked, but then noticed that one of heads hadn’t made it into a room and instead was making a beeline to the entrance. Keith ran after him and almost ran into the car the head had escaped into.

The man closed the door just before Keith had to opportunity and he ran right into it. He stumbled back and gripped the roof of the car.

“Please, Sir! Just hear me out!” Keith exclaimed as he heard the head tell the driver to step on it. Keith ran alongside the car, “I know where to find Atlantis! The Shepherd’s Journal’s in Iceland!”

“Get a grip, Kogane! Atlantis isn’t real!” The head yelled, “Go faster!” he ordered the driver.

The car sped up and Keith almost lost his grip. Not today you slimy bastard.

Keith was sprinting to keep up, “Let me explain-” He suddenly slipped on a piece of paper on the road and lost his grip on the car. Keith steeled himself and ran after the car again. Once he was close enough, he leapt toward it and grabbed the roof of the car. He pulled himself up and crawled to front and slid down to the hood.

“If you will not let me explain,” Keith yelled as he laid out a document over the windshield, “I will hand in my letter of resignation!”

Keith heard the driver shriek and the car started jerking in different directions. Keith had to grip the hood with all his strength in order to stay on.

“Enough!” The head exclaimed as the car skidded to a halt, throwing Keith off. He landed in a puddle with his glasses askew on his face. Keith looked up at the car and saw the head looking down at him with a look of pity on his face.

“Look, Keith,” he said softly, “You have so much potential. Don’t throw it all away over this nonsense like your father.”

“It’s not nonsense,” Keith said, staring at him intently, “and I’m gonna prove it to you.”

The head sighed, “Such a shame.”

He rolled up his window and the car slowly pulled away, leaving Keith to gather the soaked papers that had scattered in the puddle around him.

He slowly made his way back to the museum and went down into his office. As he started to put his things into his bag, he looked over at the picture of him and his dad and picked it up.

“I’m so sorry, dad. I couldn’t do it. I failed you.” He whispered as tears started forming in his eyes. He shook his head and put the picture in his bag. _It’s not over yet. There has to be a way. I have to do this._ he thought to himself.

When he exited the museum, he was disappointed to find that it was raining.

“Great. Perfect way to end a perfect day,” he muttered to himself as he hugged his bag closer to himself and started to make his way back home. He didn’t live too far away, but since he never learned how to drive a car, he had to walk the hour it took to get home. He didn’t really mind it, however. It gave him time to think and plan out what he had to do during the day.

The rain didn’t let up. If anything, it was raining harder and harder as he made his way back home. By the time he made it home, he was soaked to the bone and he still had no idea how he was going to be able to get the Shepherd’s Journal.

Not noticing the suspiciously parked car outside his apartment, he entered his building and wasn’t surprised to find that the lights didn’t turn on when he flicked the switch. He was going to have to contact the landlord in the morning. His apartment was very small and worn down and didn’t have much furniture or miscellaneous items, but it was all he could afford.

He took off his coat and hung it on the coat rack as he shook out his hair in an attempt of drying it out.

“Red? Where are you, kitty?” He called out in the darkness. When he didn’t hear the bells on his cat’s collar, he started getting a little frustrated.

“Come on out, kitty. Daddy’s had a long day.”

“Huh, didn’t peg you as someone into that kind of life,” A sultry voice said in the darkness.

Keith jumped at the voice and squinted in the darkness to try and see where it was coming from. Lightning flashed and for a brief moment he saw a silhouette of a person sitting on his couch.

“Who the hell are you?” Keith asked the stranger as he tried to find a weapon of some sort. The voice had a slight rasp that added to the sultriness and sounded like it belonged to a woman. Keith figured he could take her if it came down to it.

“How the hell did you get in here?”

“Relax, I’m not here to hurt you,” She said as she lit a match and held it out to her cigarette. The light from the match allowed him to see that she was very young and had long blonde, almost platinum, hair. She was wearing a simple black dress with spaghetti straps and had a fur stole wrapped around the back of her shoulders and hanging down her elbows.

When her cigarette was lit, she waved out the match and settled down into the couch. Keith’s vision had adjusted to the dark and he watched as one of her dress straps slid off her shoulder. She might be very attractive, but she also broke into his home.

“Then what do you want?” He asked.

“I’ve come with an opportunity. My employer wishes to see you about it.” She said as she took a puff from the newly lit cigarette.

“What opportunity? What are you talking about?”

“Come with me and find out.” She said as she took the cigarette out of her mouth. She stood up and slowly walked over to him. Keith backed up as she got closer to him until he was pressed up against the door. Her heels gave her quite a few inches on him, “It’ll be worth your while.”

“Sorry,” He gulped trying to look anywhere but her, “But you’re not exactly my type.”

She laughed and stepped away from him putting her hands on her hips, “Oh, don’t worry. It’s nothing like that. If you want this once in a lifetime opportunity, then follow me.”

Keith moved out of the way as she opened the door and left. He stood there for a moment in shock. _What just happened?_ Keith thought to himself. He looked around his apartment, grabbed an umbrella, and followed her out the door.

There was a car waiting in front of the building and a window rolled down to reveal the woman. She opened the door for him and Keith quickly got in. Once he was settled, the car pulled out and Keith watched as his apartment slowly faded off in the distance.

“Care to tell me more about this ‘opportunity’?” Keith asked after a few moments of silence.

“Only that you’d be a fool to turn it down. This isn’t just an opportunity for you. There are plenty of people who are going to benefit from this.”

Seeing as how he’s not going to get anymore information out of her, they sat in silence for about half an hour before the car pulled into a driveway that led to the biggest mansion that Keith had ever seen.

As Keith gaped at it, the car slowed until they eventually stopped. The woman stepped out and Keith followed her inside the mansion. Once they were inside, Keith didn’t have time to look around and quickly joined her in an elevator. As soon as the elevator started going up, the woman turned to him and started adjusting his clothes as she started talking.

“You are to refer to him as Professor Coran and nothing else. You are to remain standing until told otherwise and you are to remain silent unless told you may speak. You are to keep your head down. Do not touch anything and whatever you do, do not-” the elevator made a loud screech as it came to a stop, “Understood?”

“Wait, I missed that last-” Keith started but was shushed by the woman.

“Quiet, we’re here,” She gestured for him to get off the elevator.

He stepped out and started walking until he heard the elevator doors screech shut. He turned and saw that the woman was still on the elevator and it had started going down.

“Good luck,” she said before the elevator disappeared from view and then it was quiet.

Keith turned back to the room and began walking forward again. He looked around in awe of what was around him. It was dark in the room, the only light coming from a fire place at the far end of the room and the giant aquarium covering the entire wall next to him. Across from the aquarium were several stacks of bookshelves that were full of various sized books that looked very worn.

Keith walked past the bookshelves towards the fireplace and heard a grunt and a few pops emanating from behind a folding screen. Keith slowly moved toward it and tried to look around it. He caught a glimpse of a man wearing only boxers and in a very unusual position. One leg was twisted behind him and his other leg was twisted behind his head.

“Uh, P-professor Coran?” Keith asked softly.

The man jumped and made a small squeak as he untangled himself and turned to look at him.

“My word have you grown,” Coran said as he stood up and raised his arms above his head and bent his torso from side to side, releasing a chorus of cracks. Keith couldn’t really place his accent. Maybe it was Australian? Man, he needs to get out more.

“Last time I saw you, you were only yay high,” Coran lowered his arms and hovered his palm about a foot from the ground.

“I’m sorry, but who are you?” Keith asked.

“Did your father never talk about me? We were like this,” Coran crossed his fingers, “back in the day.”

Coran walked to the opposite side of the room to a dresser and started sifting through it’s contents. “We used to go on a bunch of adventures together. Traveling all over the world, learning about different cultures and history, partaking in a festival or two. And then you were born and your mother left. Didn’t stop him from helping me from time to time, however.”

“Sir, should I be wondering why I'm here?” Keith asked.

“Look on that table,” Coran gestured over to a nearby table. Keith moved over to it and noticed a package sitting on top. He glanced over at Coran to make sure it was okay before he picked up the package. It was slightly heavier than he was expecting and he could feel how his heart beat a little faster. He gingerly opened the package and his eyes caught gold in the center of the book.

“No way,” Keith muttered to himself. He was holding the Shepherd’s Journal.

“It’s from your father. Said I should give it to you if something were to happen to him when you were old enough. Whatever that means,” Coran explained.

“It’s- It’s the Shepherd's Journal! Sir, this journal is the key to finding Atlantis!” Keith exclaimed.

“Haha, yeah right. And I’m the Queen of England.”

“No no no, look at this! Coordinates, clues!”

“Looks like gibberish to me.”

“That’s because it’s written in Atlantian. I’ve spent my whole life studying it. I can read it.”

“It’s probably a fake.”

“Sir, my father would’ve known this was a fake, _I_ would know if this is a fake! I would bet everything I own that this is real.”

“Alright, alright. What do you want to do with it?”

Keith paused for a moment. He hadn’t really thought this far ahead, “I’ll go on a expedition. I’ll- I’ll get funding. I can ask the museum-”

“They’ll never believe you.”

“I’ll make them believe.”

“Just like you’ve done before?”

Keith felt his face grow warm with anger and frustration, “Whatever, I don’t need them. I’ll rent a rowboat if I have to.”

Coran smiled and crossed his arms, “Congratulations, Keith Kogane. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear. But forget the rowboat. We’re gonna travel in style.”

Keith stood there in shock for a moment, “Wait, what?”

“You heard me. I’ve already put together a team of the finest people in the world and I’ve already taken care of the transportation. All I need is you to help us find the way.”

Keith moved over to the desk in front of the aquarium, “Well, I can’t just drop everything and leave. I’ve got my job-”

“Already took care of it. You turned in your resignation this afternoon.”

“I’ve gotta pack up all my stuff-”

“En route to the ship as we speak.”

“My cat?”

Keith heard a meow by his ear, so he turned and saw Red climbing over his shoulder and into his lap.

“Oh my god,” Keith muttered to himself.

“You know,” Coran said as he made his way to sit across from Keith, “I didn’t believe your father when he would talk about Atlantis and rubbish like that. I indulged him, of course, but I never really expected anything to come out of any of it. He was so sure about that journal that he dropped everything to find it. Even gave his life for it. Now that he finally found this, I feel I owe it to him to find Atlantis.”

Keith nodded adamantly and looked back down at the Journal, “I can’t believe this is happening. I’ve waited for this all my life and now that it’s happening…”

Before the tears could start spilling over, Coran said, “Now, you’re going to stay in one of the guest rooms downstairs overnight,” Coran glanced down at his watch and looked back up to Keith, “You may want to get some sleep. We’ll be heading out at the crack of dawn tomorrow.”

Coran led Keith out of the room and took him to the guest room.

“We brought some of your essentials here already so you could stay here comfortably,” Coran patted him on the back. “Glad to have you a part of the team, Keith.”

“Thanks, Professor Coran.”

“Please, just call me Coran. We’re gonna be seeing a lot of each other for the next couple months.”

“But the lady said-”

“Who? Haggar?” Coran interrupted, “Oh, don’t take anything she says to heart. She just likes to watch people squirm. Now, remember, you gotta be up bright and early tomorrow morning.”

“Um, okay. Thanks. Night.”

Coran closed the door as he left leaving Keith reeling. He walked to the bed, plopped down face first into it, and screamed. If he wakes up in the morning back in his piece of shit apartment, he was going to be very disappointed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the first few chapters will mainly deal with Keith and the others. I will be posting a chapter each week on Saturdays.  
> Again, I wanna thank Elidanus for her lovely artwork:D You can find her on [Tumblr](http://elidanus.tumblr.com/) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/kdiffin2/) and my beta Emmie at [Tumblr](http://moonlovingvampire.tumblr.com/) or [Ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonlovingvampire). Go shower them with love<3  
> You can find me at [Here](http://cocopbblez.tumblr.com) on Tumblr:)


	2. Chapter 2

Keith woke up the next morning to Red making herself comfortable on Keith’s face.

“Hey, girl.” Keith mumbled as he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He raised his arms over his head and stretched as he blearily took in his surroundings. _Well, I’m not in my apartment, so that’s good,_ he thought to himself.

A moment later, he heard someone knock on the door, but before he was able to answer, Coran bursted through and looked around the room before his gaze settled on Keith.

“Ah, good. I was hoping you’d be up,” Coran said as he walked over to the side of Keith’s bed. His attention turned to Red and he reached out to pet her, but she quickly moved away to the other side of Keith and curled up on his side.

“Sorry, she doesn’t really like anyone else but me,” Keith yawned as he absentmindedly stroked her back.

“That’s fine. You can take her with you. I’ll have some guys grab some last minute stuff for her before we head out,” Coran replied as he slowly backed away from Keith and walked backwards toward the door. He pulled out a pocket watch from his coat and squinted down at it. “We have half an hour before we need to head over to the ship, so you better get a move on. There’s some food in the kitchen if you want to get something to eat before you go.”

With that, Coran exited the room and closed the door. Keith slumped back and rested his head on the headboard. He barely got any sleep last night, which was a pretty recurring thing with him. However, it was worse than normal last night because of the expedition.

A part of him couldn’t believe it was happening. All his life, he was met with disbelieving scoffs or doors slammed in his face at even the concept of Atlantis being real. Now, he basically received a free trip with plentiful resources overnight. It’s a lot to process.

The other part of him was stressing out about making sure he was able to make sense of the Journal and not lead the crew to their death. He wasn’t good with people and it made him nervous that he would have to interact with a lot of them throughout the entirety of the trip.

After giving Red a good scratch behind the ears, Keith slid bonelessly out of bed and walked over to the bathroom to clean himself up. He usually took long showers, taking only a few minutes to actually clean himself and then an hour of him just standing there, letting the water fall on him. He guessed that there probably wasn’t enough time for that, so he forced himself to turn the water off and exit the bathroom. As he opened the door back into his room, he noticed that there was an outfit already laid out for him on the bed.

“What the fuck?” Keith mumbled to himself as he stopped for a moment and looked around the room. After seeing no one there, he shrugged and put it on.

On his way out, he grabbed the Journal and then put it in a satchel that was also provided for him by some unknown person, then stood out in the hallway for a moment. He looked left and right down the hallway and realized that he had no clue where the kitchen was.

He scratched the back of his head and let out a long sigh and then started walking down to where he felt like the kitchen was. Several minutes went by and after going down what looked like the same hallway three times, Keith groaned and slumped down in frustration.

“This is ridiculous,” Keith whispered to himself.

“You need some help?” he heard someone say.

Keith turned towards the voice and saw a tall heavyset, but muscular man standing near him with an orange piece of fabric tied around his forehead and an amused look on his face.

Keith scoffed, “Yeah, where the hell’s the kitchen?”

The man chuckled and nodded his head to the right, “It’s down this way. This place is a bit of a maze. Took me forever to figure out how to get anywhere. Follow me.”

The man gave off a warm and pleasant aura that made Keith feel sure that he could trust this guy about anything.

“By the way, my name’s Hunk,” he said after a moment of walking, “I’m gonna be part of the expedition with you, so I figured we should be somewhat familiar with each one another since we’ll probably be seeing a lot of each other over the next few months.”

Keith felt himself start to sweat as he thought of what to say. “Uh, yeah. I guess. I’m Keith. Nice to meet you, Hunk,” Keith replied becoming somewhat nervous.

“Same. So, you’re Keith. Coran’s told us about you. You’re our guide or something, right?”

Keith nodded, “Yeah, something like that.”

“That’s cool, man. So, like, on a scale of one to ten, how excited are you for this expedition? ‘Cause I’m at, like, an eight.”

“Uh, I don’t know. Six?” Keith shrugged, “I guess I haven’t been able to process that this is really happening.”

“Yeah, I get that. I’ve never really been into those sort of things like cryptids or myths or whatever, but the money’s good and there’s a pretty good chance that it actually exists considering all the work, time, and money put into this.”

“What are you talking about?” Keith defended, balling his fists up and staring hard at the ground, “It exists. I’ve been studying it for practically my whole life!” his voice started to rise, “We _have_ to do this! This is the whole reason I’m here! There is no other option!”

Hunk raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, “Whoa, calm down, man. I believe you. I obviously wouldn’t be here if I thought that it was a load of crap. You have to realize that this is somewhat of a stretch to someone who hasn’t been studying this for ‘practically their whole life’.”

“Sorry,” Keith apologized as he looked down at the floor wringing his hands together, “I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night and I’m just used to people calling it stupid and shutting me down.”

“No hard feelings, man,” Hunk said as he put his hand on Keith’s shoulder causing Keith to instinctively tense up. Thankfully, Hunk noticed and took his hand off.

They walked in silence for the next few minutes before Hunk stopped.

“Well, here we are,” Hunk stated as he opened the door to what looked to be a buffet fit for a king. Keith’s jaw dropped as he felt his stomach growl at the sight of such delicious smelling food.

“Yeah,” Hunk started, awkwardly rubbing his hand on the back of his neck, “I didn’t really know what you wanted, so I just made a little of everything. You don’t have any allergies, do you?”

Keith shook his head, “Not that I know of.”

“Okay, good,” Hunk said as he breathed out a sigh of relief, “Well, go ahead and help yourself. The plates are over there, you can leave the plate wherever. The servants will take care of the clean up.”

Hunk headed to the door while Keith stayed frozen in the spot for a moment. He then automatically grabbed a plate and looked over the food to see what he wanted to eat. He grabbed several slices of french toast and drizzled them with syrup, scooped up several spoonfuls of scrambled eggs, took a handful of bacon strips, swiped an already peeled orange, and filled a glass with some milk.

He looked down at his plate for a moment and willed himself not to cry. He wasn’t used to having this much food at once. The last time he was able to eat any home cooked meal was before his dad died. Before he died, his dad always made sure that Keith started his day with a full stomach. Now, he’s lucky to be able to eat a granola bar at the nearby convenience store for breakfast every morning.

“Oh yeah,” Hunk suddenly said, turning to face Keith. He forgot that Hunk was still there. “When you’re done, Coran wants you to join him in the front of the mansion. Should be a car waiting out there by the time you finish. I gotta take care of a few things, but the exit’s just down this hallway, take a right, go down the stairs, and it’s down the hall to the left.”

With that, Hunk disappeared from view and Keith was free to eat in peace. He set the satchel down on the floor so it wouldn’t get dirty and dug in. While he was eating, he felt something rub against his leg. He didn’t have to look down to see who it was.

“Well, I’m glad to see you got here just fine,” Keith fondly grumbled at her. She only meowed in response and then jumped on Keith’s lap once he settled back to make room for her. Keith chuckled and rubbed the back of her head.

Once he was finished, he slung the satchel over his shoulder and checked to make sure the book was still there. He then picked up Red and made his way to the entrance using the instructions Hunk told him. When he was outside, he found the parked car nearby. As he made his way too it, he noticed Coran sitting in the passenger seat and Hunk sitting in the back seat. Hunk looked up at him and reached over to open the door for Keith.

“Glad to see you made it out here okay,” Hunk said as Keith entered the car and closed the door, “and who’s this little guy?”

Hunk reached out to pet Red, but she just sniffed his hand and then turned her head away to reposition herself on Keith lap so she was facing away from Hunk.

“Uh, this is my cat. Her name’s Red. She doesn’t really like people. Sorry.”

“Why is that?”

Keith squirmed in his seat a bit. He adopted Red because he heard somewhere that having a pet helps when you’re having a particularly rough time. After his father died and he grew out of the foster system, that’s exactly where he found himself. He felt like that kind of information was a little too personal, so he decided to skip to when he first visited the animal shelter.

“I went to a local rescue shelter and noticed that there were a litter of kittens that had come from a bad home. I asked about Red because I noticed that she separated herself from the rest of them. They told me that if she wouldn’t interact with the other cats and she would squirm out of the employee's hands when they would try to give her milk.”

Keith looked down at Red and pet the top of her head. “We locked eyes and she slowly came up to me and let me pet her. They practically begged me to adopt her then. So, I did.”

“That’s amazing. She sure seems happy with you,” Hunk replied with a warm smile as he looked down at what looked like a list.

“So, everyone ready to rock and roll as the kids call it?” Coran turned toward the two and barely waited for a response before turning back, “Well, let’s not waste anymore time.”

After a few moments of silence, Hunk scoffed and looked up at Coran.“Coran, what is all this junk?”

“What are you calling ‘junk’?” Coran replied, looking back at Hunk, “You can make some good stuff from that ‘junk’.”

“Um, maybe if you’re used to eating random crap you find lying around,” Hunk mumbled as he made some notes in the margins of the list, “I’ll make it work. Hopefully Atlantis has some better ingredients I can use.”

The rest of the ride was spent in silence which Keith used to study the Shepherd's Journal more. He would glance up every few minutes and take a moment to watch buildings and trees whiz by.

After about a half hour of driving, the car slowed down near a large warehouse which was bustling with people. Keith looked up and widened his eyes as he was suddenly overcome with several emotions. This was really happening.

The three of them got out of the car and they followed Coran as he made his way inside. Keith struggled to keep up with Coran and Hunk while also keeping Red and the Journal on him. It was difficult trying to maneuver around the throngs of people all the while muttering about how stupid people are every time someone bumped into him.

Once they made it past the initial hustle and bustle, Keith was able to slow down and loosen up. He glanced up and stopped dead in his tracks and gaped up at the biggest ship he had ever seen in his entire life.

“Keith, I’d like you to meet Zarkon. He’ll be the captain of this expedition,” He heard Coran say which snapped him out of his trance. His eyes scanned the crowd until he was able to spot Coran, but his attention was suddenly drawn to the man standing next to him, presumably Zarkon. As he walked to Coran, he studied the man with him, who was twice his size and built like a rock, and regarded him carefully. Zarkon had a look of amused curiosity on his face and gave off a dangerous aura, which set off minor red flags in Keith. He did not want to get on this man’s bad side.

“You must be Keith. I’ve heard a lot about you and I look forward to working with you,” the broad man said as he extended an arm out to Keith. Keith hesitated for a moment, not trusting this guy. However, as sketchy as this guy seemed to be, Keith refused to be intimidated by him. Keith reluctantly set down Red and shook hands with him, meeting his eye.

“Likewise.” Keith said as he felt Zarkon tighten his grip. Keith slightly smirked as he tightened his grip as well, earning a small chuckle from Zarkon.

“You have a good arm there. I think you and I are going to get along well,” Zarkon remarked, matching Keith’s smirk.

“Can’t wait,” Keith said as he heard Red hiss from behind him.

Keith dropped his hand and bent down to pick Red back up.

“You’ve of course already met Haggar,” Coran said, obviously not aware of the tension between the two.

Keith looked over and saw Haggar making her way over as she was conversing with one of the workers. She looked up at the group as Coran waved her over.

She looked drastically different since the last time Keith saw her. Instead of wearing a slightly revealing dress like she was when she was in Keith’s apartment, she was wearing the same as outfit as Zarkon, just with less ribbons and her hair up in a ponytail. She exuded a sense of dangerous authority that made Keith immediately straighten up.

Keith heard Hunk cough awkwardly next to him, “Uh, I’m gonna go ahead and meet up with Shay. See you later, Keith,” Hunk said as he quickly walked off into the crowd.

Haggar dismissed the man she was talking with and then stood next to Zarkon, crossing her arms over her chest. She carefully looked between Keith and Zarkon and then chuckled.

“I hope my husband wasn’t causing too much trouble,” She said as Zarkon wrapped an arm around her shoulders, “He isn’t really known for making friends.”

“Nah, I was introducing Keith to him,” Coran supplied with a wave of his hand, “I trust you can finish with everything out here while I show Keith around the ship.”

Both Haggar and Zarkon nodded and then walked off into the crowd as Hunk did moments ago. Keith watched them leave and squinted his eyes. He did not have a good feeling about the two of them. He heard a clap next to him that snapped his attention back to Coran.

“Alright, let’s head to the ship, shall we?” Coran quickly turned and walked to the entrance of the ship.

Keith hesitated a moment and looked back to where Zarkon and Haggar disappear. He turned back to where he saw Coran disappear and quickly made his way to catch up with him.

Once he finally caught up to him, Coran led him to the entrance all the while regaling him about the design of the ship which Keith could not care less about. Coran led him to different areas of the ship and gave him a small explanation of each.

He showed him where the mess hall was, how to find the bridge, where the escape pods were, showed him how to communicate to others on the ship, and finally, were the sleep chambers were.

“And this part of the ship will be where the head haunches sleep.” Coran stated once they reached a hallway that had several rooms branching from it. Beside each door, there was a plaque that read the names of the people staying in each room and their job.

“This will be where you sleep. Your stuff is already here, you just have to get settled in,” Coran stated. Keith glanced at his plaque that read:

_Keith Kogane_

_Guide_

_Takashi Shirogane_

_Doctor_

“Lunch will be in,” Coran pulled out a small clock from his jacket and looked at the time, “About an hour. Feel free to rest up and get settled in. You’ll be here for the next month at least. My room is at the end of this hall if you have any questions, comments, concerns, grievances, yada yada.”

With a wave of his hand, he staggered off and waved at Keith as the elevator doors closed. Keith opened the door to his room and took a quick glance around. The room contained two beds, two dressers, two desks and two wardrobes. The beds were in the opposite sides of the room, tucked into the corners by the door. The desks were settled at the foot of the beds and each contained a desk lamp. Next to the desk, up against the wall were the dressers and the wardrobe stood against the back wall and was facing the desk.

 _I guess he already moved in,_ Keith inferred as he took in his roommate’s side of the room. There was an assortment of pictures and various medical supplies that were scattered on the desk and there were clothes folded up on the edge of the bed. Keith looked over at his side of the room and found the suitcases his stuff was in sitting by his bed.

Keith set down Red who immediately jumped on his bed and made herself comfortable.

“Oh, don’t worry. You rest. I’ll put all this shit away.” Keith grumbled at himself as he went to organize his stuff.

It only took him about 15 minutes to put his stuff away since he didn’t really have much to start with anyway. The last thing he pulled out was the framed picture of him and his dad. He looked down longingly at it as he placed it on his desk.

Once he was done, he shoved the suitcases under his bed and plopped down on it, covering his face with his arm. Just as he felt Red curl up on his side to join him on his nap, he heard the door to the room open.

“Oh, hello,” He heard a voice above him say. Keith groaned. _Can I not have a moment to myself?_ “You must be Keith. I’m Dr. Shirogane, but you can just call me Shiro.”

Keith slowly moved his arm from his face to look up at the man. Upon getting a glance at him, Keith immediately shot up. _Oh no, he’s hot_ , Keith thought to himself as he felt himself blush slightly.

“Uh.. yeah. I’m Keith. Uh, nice to meet you, Shiro,” Keith stammered as he shook Shiro’s hand. He looked down when felt that Shiro’s hand was cold and saw that the entirety of Shiro’s right hand was metal. He quickly looked away from it so as to not make Shiro uncomfortable.

“I look forward to working with you,” Shiro said as he noticed Red on Keith’s bed staring at Shiro with curious eyes, “Oh, I didn’t know I was going to have two roommates.”

“Yeah, that’s my cat. Her name’s Red,” Keith said as he watched Shiro crouch down in front of her, “She typically doesn’t like anyone else but me.”

“Oh, I’ll just keep my distance, then,” Shiro said as he raised his hands in mock surrender and stood up, “I’m still trying to get used to this anyway, so I wouldn’t want to accidentally hurt her,” he said as opened and closed the hand of his robotic prosthetic.

They stood awkwardly in front of each other until a yawn escaped Keith. “I’m sorry, but I’m pretty tired. You mind if I just-”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Go ahead. I just came to pick something up for Pidge,” Shiro walked over to his wardrobe and shuffled through the contents. He made a noise of satisfaction and pulled out some sort of fabric chest piece and then gave a small wave to Keith, “I’ll see you later.”

Keith looked down at his watch. He only had half an hour to take a quick nap. He sat back down on his bed and set the alarm clock next to him and then drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed!  
> Please leave a kudo or a comment if you want to make a writer's day:)
> 
> Artist: Elidanus ([Tumblr](http://elidanus.tumblr.com/)/[Twitter](https://twitter.com/kdiffin2/))  
> Beta: Emmie ([Tumblr](http://moonlovingvampire.tumblr.com/)/[Ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonlovingvampire))  
> Me: Coco ([Tumblr](http://cocopbblez.tumblr.com/))
> 
> If you want to read any other stories from the Big Bang, go [Here](http://klancebb2017.tumblr.com/). There are tons of other stories there that deserve some lovin', too.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanna thank Emmie for powering through and betaing this story and Eridanus for her amazing drawings:) I love you guys<3  
> Hope you all enjoy:D

 

Keith could vaguely hear an alarm going off next to him that was steadily becoming louder as he rose back to consciousness. He sleepily rubbed his eyes and squinted over at the alarm. Shit, he was 15 minutes late. He could always count on himself to sleep through a shrill alarm going off right next to his ear. He shot out of bed and quickly gathered some of his things.

“You stay here,” Keith commanded at Red who hasn’t even moved from her spot as he sprinted out the door, immediately running into Shiro.

“Whoa, hey there. I was just coming to check up on you,” he said as he held out his arms to steady Keith, “Had to come make sure our guide didn’t die,”

“Unfortunately not,” Keith mumbled to himself as he walked with Shiro to the mess hall. Shiro seemed like he wanted to say more, he just simply chuckled and continued on with Keith.

It took them quite a bit to get to there. Keith heard the mess hall before he saw the doors leading to it. Keith felt himself pale when he saw that the area was abuzz with hundreds of workers eating and conversing. It was like highschool all over again. 

Shiro took a moment to explain a little more in detail about how to get food than Coran did.

“And if you want to, you can sit with me and my friends over there,” he said as he pointed over at a table several feet away. Keith followed his finger until he saw three people talking amongst themselves. Keith noticed Hunk was with them and felt slightly relieved.

“Uh, yeah. Sure. Thanks.” Keith said and watched as Shiro happily nodded and left to return to the rest of them.

As Keith went around and collected his food, he could feel himself start to become more and more irritable. He was already on edge about social interaction and the lack of sleep and the noise of everyone and everything around him didn’t help.

“You can do this, Keith,” He muttered himself as he gripped his tray tightly and made his way to the table. As he got closer, he noticed Hunk was leaned over the table while everyone else leaned in to listen. Someone at the table with big, round glasses glanced over and noticed Keith. They whipped their head back to the others and then everyone else sat up.

Hunk was sitting on the opposite side of the table next to a dark skinned woman with medium length, black hair which was poofed around her head and contained small, messy curls all throughout. At the head of the table on the other side of Hunk was Shiro, who was looking at Keith with a patient smile on his face. Across from Shiro at the other end of the table was the person with large glasses that noticed him earlier. They were leaned back in their chair with their legs propped up on the table. They also seemed to have materialized a laptop from somewhere and was typing away at it.

“Oh, hey Keith,” Hunk said as he looked up and waved him over, “’Bout time you showed up. You didn’t get lost, did you?”

“No, I overslept. Sorry.” Keith said.

“Happens to the best of us,” Shiro said, patting the spot across from Hunk to let Keith know he could sit there, “Alright everyone, this is Keith. He’s our guide.”

“Nice to meet you, Keith,” said the person with glasses as they looked up from their laptop to look at Keith, “I’m Pidge. Here on the ship, I’ll be the communications officer and then once we arrive, I’m the one who’s gonna be helping Hunk with the techy shit.”

Keith was looked over at them in shock for a moment. How could a person so young be doing that kind of stuff? He thought it best to keep that to himself and decided to ask about the other thing he heard. “Techy shit? I thought Hunk was the cook.”

“I’m gonna be both the cook and the main engineer,” Hunk explained, “Don’t worry, I’ll try not to confuse the two.”

The girl next to Hunk softly giggled into her hand. “And this lovely lady is Shay. She’s the chief geologist here and the best girlfriend in the world,” Hunk finished as he hooked an arm around her shoulders and pulled her towards him to give her a kiss on the top of her head. Shay turned a deep red as she pulled away from him and playfully hit him as Pidge and Shiro groaned.

“Ignore him,” Shay said, looking over at Keith, “I am very excited to work with you as well as the rest of you,” She said, looking at everyone at the table.

“So, do you all know each other?” Keith asked.

“Oh, Shiro and I go way back and then Hunk and I met in college,” Pidge said.

“And Shay and I went to highschool together,” Hunk added as he took Shay’s hand.

They all then started telling stories and inside jokes with each other as Keith listened on in both awe and sadness. He’s never really had any friends before and listening to them be so happy and comfortable with each other made feel a longing for that kind of connection.

Shiro was just about to get into some sort of daily Japanese phrase of the day when the loud speakers made loud screeching sound. After it ran it’s course, a moment of silence passed before Zarkon’s voice filled the mess hall causing everyone to quiet down.

“Welcome everyone to the first day of the Atlantis expedition. We will pulling out of the dock in a few moments and then we will be submerging at 1500 sharp,” everyone except Keith all looked excited at one another, “Do what you will in that time, but be sure to be back inside at 1500. We will need every last person to make this trip a success. You may return to the task at hand.”

The intercom clicked and silence followed before conversations slowly started back up. Some of the workers took it as a cue to leave.

“I don’t like that Zarkon guy,” Pidge said as they shivered in their seat.

“Yeah, he gives me the heebie jeebies,” Hunk added as he finished the last of his food, “Come on, Shay! Let’s go outside!” he said excitedly as he got up and raced out dragging a laughing Shay behind him.

“Hey! I wanna come too!” Pidge yelled at them as they got up and chased after them.

Shiro smiled at them as they ran off and then looked over at Keith, “Let’s go. It’ll be fun.”

“I don’t know…” Keith started. He liked hanging out with them, but he felt like he sort of stuck out. They all have known each other a long time, but Keith was just introduced that day. He felt like he was imposing.

“Come on. This’ll be the last time you can do this for at least three months,” Shiro said.

“‘Me’ and ‘Outside’ don’t really mix,” Keith countered.

“A life with regrets isn’t a life worth living, you know.”

Keith sighed, realizing that there was no getting out of it and dramatically put his hands down on his seat and pushed himself up and stood with Shiro, “Fine. Lead the way.”

He followed Shiro as he lead them to the door that would lead them to the surface. Once they arrived, Shiro held the metal door open for Keith and gestured for Keith to go through first. Keith stepped through and felt a rush of warm wind hit his face. He grabbed his glasses to make sure they didn’t blow away and continued out onto the deck. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he was amazed by the view. 

The sun was high in the sky and reflected off the water making the ocean seem like it was sparkling. Keith slowly walked to the railing and looked out over the water.

He gazed out at the ocean for a bit and then felt something wet hit the bottom of his chin. He looked down and noticed it was the ship making a sort of mist. He closed his eyes and let the smell of sea salt invade his senses. He stayed like that for a few moments before he opened his eyes. He glanced over and noticed the mist was creating a rainbow. He marveled at as he followed it and noticed Hunk, Shay, and Pidge several feet away doing the same thing he was doing.

“Come on. Let’s join the others,” Shiro said from behind him and then walked over to where the others were.

Keith walked over and, as he got closer, their conversation was becoming more and more clearer.

“...why are you like this? You are not jumping off,” Keith could hear Hunk tell Pidge with his arms crossed over his chest. He seemed a little paler than normal, but it looked like he was trying to make it seem like he was fine.

“But Huuunk,” Pidge pleaded, “This’ll probably be my only opportunity to do this. Do you know how many bragging rights I’ll have over Matt if I hitch a ride off a dolphin?”

“What is this about Pidge riding a dolphin?” Shiro asked.

“Pidge said that they want to jump off the boat and swim with the dolphins we saw a few moments ago,” Shay explained.

“Pidge, Hunk is right,” Shiro cautioned, “You are not jumping off the boat. We only have a few minutes before we submerge.”

Pidge sighed and hung their head in defeat, “Fine,  _ Dad _ . I won’t have fun,” they said sarcastically as they crossed their arms over their chest and stuck their tongue out at him.

Shiro chuckled and ruffled their hair causing them to giggle and push his hand away.

For the remaining time they had left on the surface, the five of them stayed there and pointed out any animals that they saw. Shiro kept a protective arm around Pidge’s shoulders to ensure that they wouldn’t jump off the ship. 

Keith glanced over at Hunk and noticed that he seemed to be sweating a lot even though the weather was beautiful. Hunk’s hands were gripping the railing tight as Shay rubbed circles on his back. 

Then, they heard the alarms go off, signalling that the ship was about to submerge. A smile bloomed on Pidge’s face and they raced to the exit.

“Hurry! We may be able to get to the bridge before we submerge! It’s gonna look so fuckin’ cool.”

“You go on without me. I think I’m just gonna introduce myself to this trashcan,” Hunk said as he slowly made his way back inside the ship.

“I shall stay with you,” Shay said, widening her eyes as they heard Hunk start retching, “After I get some water, perhaps.”

As Shay left to get some water for Hunk, Pidge looked over at Keith and Shiro, “Last one there’s a rotten egg!” they yelled back at them as they turned around and ran off.

“Ugh,” Shiro groaned, “I’m getting too old for this,” he mumbled to himself as he ran after them.

Keith smiled at himself and then chased after them.

Even though Pidge had a slight headstart, Keith still beat the two of them to the control room. Several seconds after he arrived, Pidge came tumbling in. They looked up and their face fell when they saw that Keith had beat them there.

“How… in the hell… did you beat me here?” Pidge said between breathes as they doubled over and placed their hands on their thighs.

“Took track in high school,” Keith said with a shrug, “I’m a little out of practice, though.”

“Bullshit,” They said, standing up straight with their hands on their hips and looked up at the ceiling as they continued to get their breathing under control.

Shiro leisurely strolled in, having given up in the race, and came up behind them to give each of them a bottle of water.

“I’m proud of you both, but,” he whispered, looking past the two of them, “I think you both won.”

Pidge and Keith looked at each other in confusion and then looked back at Shiro. As Pidge took a breath to argue with Shiro, they closed their mouth when he put a finger over his mouth.

Shiro nodded his head to something over their shoulders, causing Keith and Pidge to look over at the giant window that domed out into the ocean. They watched in awe as the water slowly rose over the glass, allowing them to see the various wildlife that lived below the surface. The water cast a soft blue light throughout the room which became darker and darker as they sank deeper and deeper. Once it became dark enough, lights turned on giving the room a warming hue.

“Wow,” Keith breathed.

“It’s like magic,” Pidge added.

“Ah, there you all are!” They heard Coran say. The three of them looked up at Coran who was standing in an area that overlooked the entire room with Zarkon and Haggar, “Where’s Hunk and Shay?”

“We’re here,” Hunk said as he walking in with Shay, “I just had to take a break.”

“Do you want me to give you something for your motion sickness?” Shiro asked with a concerned look in his eye.

“Oh my god, please?” Hunk said as Shiro lead him out of the room.

“Well, when they come back,” Coran said, looking over at Keith and pointed dramatically at him, “We’ll need you to tell us how exactly we’ll be getting there.”

Keith felt the color drain from his face, “What? Like, right now?”

“What? No, of course not,” Coran said with a wave of his hand and Keith felt himself relax, “Didn’t you hear me? When they  _ come back _ you will tell us.”

_ Well, shit. _

Keith took out the Journal from the satchel and looked over it and tried to make sense of where they had to go and what exactly they had to do to get there. Everything Keith knew seemed to vanish from his mind as the prospect of him having to talk in front of everyone loomed over him. Keith looked around and noticed a huge chalkboard near him.

“Hey, Coran? Is it okay if I…”

Coran looked like he was in a deep conversation with Zarkon and Haggar, but he looked down at Keith and then looked over to where he was gesturing.

“Of course! That’s why it’s there,” he answered with a laugh.  He turned back to rejoin whatever conversation he was having, muttering, “Ah, kids these days.”

Keith walked over to the board and wrote out notes and drew diagrams of what he could decipher from the Journal. He felt himself begin to calm down once he was able to write down his thoughts. When he was about finished, Shiro walked back in with Hunk in tow.

“So, what’d we miss?” Shiro asked, pulling Coran out of his conversation again.

“Well, about time you came back. Well, Keith here is going to tell us where we go from this point,” He said, sending a wink over to Keith, “go ahead and make yourself comfortable.”

Keith all of sudden felt his blood run dry and his palms shake. He looked up at Zarkon, who had a blank look on his face and started to feel very small under his gaze.

“Hey,” he heard Shiro whisper at him. He looked over and saw Shiro, Pidge, Hunk, and Shay all looking at him with an encouraging look on all their faces, “Deep breath,” he mouthed and pretended to take a deep breath.

Keith followed Shiro’s lead and took a deep breath, feeling lighter. He’s really glad he met these people.

He went through the basic gist of the path they needed to take and how long it’ll be before they get to each area. There were three parts to the expedition: the first part being the ocean which they need to get through to get to the cave in the second part. After they dig through the cave, they’ll hit the third part: Atlantis.

Once he was finished, everyone except Zarkon clapped. All of a sudden, he was rushed by Pidge and the others.

“Wow, dude! You got all of that out of that gibberish?” Pidge asked, coming over and looking in the book that was still open in Keith’s hand.

“I thought this was going to be a lot more complicated. This is going to be exciting!” Hunk exclaimed, reaching over to clap Keith on the back.

“I wonder what we will find in those caves! I cannot wait until we arrive there,” Shay said, clapping her hands together and jumping up and down.

“This’ll really be something. Seems like we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us,” Shiro said, standing by Keith and looking over what Keith had written on the board.

Before Keith could do or say anything, Zarkon tapped a pen against the railing in front of him causing everyone else to be quiet.

“Don’t get too carried away everyone,” He said, pausing to look at everyone in the room. It was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop, “We still have a few months before we arrive, so I expect all of you to perform your jobs efficiently and ensure that we arrive on schedule. Dismissed.”

With that, Keith followed the others out to the mess hall.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starved,” Hunk said as he held his stomach.

“But it’s not even 5 yet,” Pidge said, giving Hunk a quizzical look.

“He did puke a few times,” Shiro countered for Hunk.

“I can attest to that. I was there,” Shay added.

“You got me there.” Pidge said, pointing a finger gun over at Shiro.

“Then it’s decided, let’s go grab some grub,” Hunk said.

“I’m, uh,” Keith started, causing everyone to turn their attention to him, “I’m actually gonna head back to the room.”

“Really? You’re going to bed already? How old are you? 50?” Pidge said sarcastically.

“Yeah, and speaking of old, Shiro still has to tell us the phrase of the day,” Hunk added, earning a playful shove from Shiro.

“I think I’ll pass. Today’s been,” Keith sighed, “a long day.”

“We get it,” Shiro said before anyone else could try to convince Keith otherwise, “Go ahead and get some rest. I’ll bring some food for you later.”

After a chorus of ‘goodnights’ from the others, Keith trudged down the hall in the direction of his and Shiro’s room. Only getting lost twice, Keith finally made it and fell onto his bed, accidentally landing on top of Red.

“Oops sorry, girl,” He said as he pulled her into his lap and started to scratch her behind the ears. She then leaped out of his lap and went over to her empty food bowl.

“Shit, have you not eaten anything today? Fuck,” he cursed at himself as he pulled her food out of the cupboard and filled her bowl up.

As she happily ate, Keith flopped back down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling for a bit to watch the fan circle around and around as his mind recounted the events of the day. Once he felt himself drifting, he sat back up to take off his shoes and then curled up under his blanket and went to sleep. Maybe he’ll get a full night's sleep for once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed!  
> Please leave a kudo or a comment if you want to make a writer's day:)
> 
> Artist: Elidanus ([Tumblr](http://elidanus.tumblr.com/)/[Twitter](https://twitter.com/kdiffin2/))  
> Beta: Emmie ([Tumblr](http://moonlovingvampire.tumblr.com/)/[Ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonlovingvampire))  
> Me: Coco ([Tumblr](http://cocopbblez.tumblr.com/))
> 
> If you want to read any other stories from the Big Bang, go [Here](http://klancebb2017.tumblr.com/). There are tons of other stories there that deserve some lovin', too.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my amazing beta, Emmie. I appreciate all the work you do to help me and thanks to Eridanus for working with me and providing some beautiful art work.  
> Please enjoy:D

Over the next few weeks, Keith fell into a routine with the rest of the crew. At first, it was mainly due to Shiro’s urging, but after spending several weeks with the others, he grew attached to them. Keith felt the most comfortable with Shiro since they were roommates. Shiro just seemed to get Keith. He was like the brother Keith never had and always wanted.

Shiro had a very strict workout routine which required him to wake up at 5 every morning and spend an hour or two in the gym depending on the workout. Keith was usually already up around that time seeing as how he could never sleep at normal times, so he didn’t mind tagging along. At first, Keith would only go with Shiro every few days, but when he realized how much he enjoyed it, he started joining Shiro every day. After that, Shiro usually had to go to the little clinic they set up for him and it kept him pretty busy all day. 

Keith would then find himself hanging out with Hunk while he helped out in the kitchens. After breakfast, Hunk usually tried to convince Keith to come join him in the kitchens. After declining a few times, Keith started to feel guilty about it. With Shiro’s words in the back of his mind, he finally agreed to spend some time with Hunk. He mainly helped with cleaning since he couldn’t cook for shit, but Hunk didn’t mind. It didn’t take long for Keith to grow attached to Hunk. He was just the kind of guy you couldn’t not like. 

Sometimes Shay would come over and hang out with them for a bit. She didn’t have much to do until they reach the caves, so she would hang around the ship. It was rare to see her without Hunk. However, when Hunk was working in the engine rooms, she would stay in her and Hunk’s room and study the various rocks that they would most likely encounter in the cave. That way, when they arrive, they’re digging will go smoothly. She seemed to be very shy and preferred to keep to herself a lot, which was something Keith could relate to.

Some days, Hunk and Shay wouldn’t show up for breakfast. Whenever that happened, Shiro and Pidge would share a sad look and assure a confused Keith that they were fine. They just needed some time alone. When that would happen, he’d go spend some time with Pidge. Keith felt comfortable with Pidge because they never made him feel obligated to talk to them. They would just sit there in a comfortable silence while they worked on their respective jobs. When they would talk to him, they usually talked about some weird nonsense Pidge would think up or complain about how dumb some people were. Keith thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Pidge.

Coran would usually come and go as he pleased. Since his official job didn’t start until they arrived, he would hang around the bridge to talk to Zarkon about how everything was working, which made sense since he invested millions into this. When they least expected it, he would randomly pop up and talk with Keith and the others. Sometimes, it felt like he would materialize out of nowhere. He would usually come by and see how things were going and to make sure everything was going smoothly. He kind of reminded Keith of the quirky uncle that you only see at reunions.

Every once in awhile, Zarkon would call Keith up to the bridge and they would discuss their navigation. Keith really did not want to spend more time with him then necessary, so their talks would only last a few minutes before Zarkon would dismiss him. 

They all still made it a point to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner together. Sometimes, work would make Shiro, Hunk or Pidge late to either lunch or dinner, but they always found a way to make it in time. The only exception would be when Shay and Hunk skipped out on breakfast, but that rarely happened. Keith wanted to ask why, but he didn’t want to stick his nose into something that was probably personal.

The more time they all spent together, the more Keith found himself coming out of his shell. He found himself smiling more and contributing more in the conversations. He really felt like he was part of a family, something he didn’t he’d been craving.

One day, Keith was briefing with Zarkon when Pidge’s voice came over on the intercom.

“Uh… Zarkon? I’m getting some weird sounds from outside the ship.”

Zarkon pressed the button on the intercom to respond. “What sounds?”

“It’s like a growl, but not a growl? Like… I don’t really know how to explain it. One sec,” Pidge said.

All of a sudden, an eerie, almost metallic sound filled the room. Everyone stopped what they were doing and listened to the sound warily. 

“Turn on the search lights,” Zarkon ordered.

Bright lights suddenly accompanied the lights they already had on and they slowly scanned their surroundings. Haggar slowly moved to stand next to Zarkon and regarded the sound carefully as she also examined the ocean.

“What in the…” she started, but then the sound slowly faded out until there was silence, “Well, whatever it was, it’s gone now.”

Keith looked out the glass and noticed a shadow quickly move in the background.

“Wait, did you guys see-”

The ship suddenly lurched with a loud crash and a flashing blue light, throwing everyone to the ground. Sirens started blaring and red lights were flashing.

“What in the blazes was  _ that _ !?” Coran asked, who had just bursted through the door and held onto the railing so he wouldn’t be knocked down by the violent rumbling.

The ship lurched again as Hunk voice blared through the intercom.

“Sir, I don’t know what happened, but we have major flooding in several of the rooms down here!”

“Can you determine the source of the flooding?” Haggar yelled.

“I can’t! There’s too much water rushing through!”

“Close off the flooding rooms!” Zarkon ordered as he gripped the intercom.

“But there are still some people down there! We can’t-”

“I said close them off!  _ That’s an order _ !”

There was a moment of silence and another powerful lurched before they heard Hunk convey the order to the others with him. Keith felt a pang of sadness as he heard Hunk’s voice shake.

“What’s the situation down there?” Zarkon yelled at him.

“Well, we have major flooding, and closing off-,” Hunk paused as if the words hurt to say, “closing off the rooms will buy us time, but once the water hits the engines, it’s game over!”

“How much time do we have?” Zarkon barked.

“20 minutes if the stabilizers hold-,” they heard something explode in the background, “make that 10 minutes!”

“You all heard that! Everyone, get to the escape pods! Pidge-”

“Already on it, sir!” Pidge responded. At that moment, an alarm blasted through the speakers with Pidge’s voice, pre recorded, telling everyone to evacuate the ship via the escape pods at regular intervals.

As all of this was happening, Keith was leaning against the railing in shock. He couldn’t think or move. As he was still processing what was happening, Coran came up to him and grabbed him.

“Come on! You’ve got to move!” Coran yelled at him as he pulled Keith out of the room. As they ran to the direction of the escape pods, they ran into Shiro who was carrying a giant suitcase. Seeing Shiro caused him remember something that snapped him out of his shock.

“Red!” Keith yelled as he ripped himself from Coran’s grip and ran to his room. He heard Coran and Shiro yell after him, but nothing mattered until he got to her.

Everything became a blur as he sprinted as fast as he could. He couldn’t lose her.

After what felt like forever, he finally reached the room and frantically looked around. Clothes and several miscellaneous objects were thrown around the room and most of the furniture lay broken on the floor.

“Red!” Keith yelled while he threw items around the room, “Red! Where are you?!”

His heart lurched in joy as he spotted a red ball of fur hiding in a pile of his clothes. He hurried to her and threw the clothes off of her. When she was free, she jumped into his arms and curled in on herself. Once she was secure in his arms, he doubled checked that he still had the Journal in his satchel and then bolted out of the room and hurried to the escape pods. As he reached the hangar, he noticed that Coran was standing outside the main pod.

“Just wait a tick!” Coran yelled back to someone in the pod. When Coran turned and the brightest smile lit his face. “There he is! Come on!”

Keith started running faster until a violent lurched shot him into the pod, causing him to crash on the ground. Coran immediately helped him up and sat him in a chair.

“Buckle up! It’s going to be a bumpy ride!”

Just as Keith secured himself and made sure Red was secure in his arms, the pod shot off. Not even a second after they shot off into the abyss, Keith both felt and heard the ship explode.

Next to Keith, he heard Hunk whispering a prayer to Shay and then he looked in front of him and saw Shiro and Pidge holding hands tightly. Pidge had their head down and Shiro was saying something to them, but there was too much going on around him to figure out what he was saying.

Now that the main ship was out of the way, the creature turned its attention to the escape pods. The mini ship jerked in every direction as Zarkon evaded the bolts of energy it was shooting at them. The only view Keith had to the outside was at the front of the ship, but it was still hard to make out where they were going. 

He watched as a flash of blue light made contact with an escape pod a few feet infront of them. The resulting explosion shook the ship and Zarkon dodged the shrapnel that shot out around it by dipping below it. He continued downward into a ravine and was aiming for a small hole near the bottom.

Keith closed his eyes and buried his face into Red’s fur, “It’s going to be okay, it’s going to be okay,” he chanted into her fur as he felt the ship grind and bump into the walls of the cave. He tensed himself as he was jostled around in his seat.

After what felt like a year, Keith finally felt the jerking come to a stop and the ship slowing down. He glanced up from Red and looked out the window. They seemed to be steadily making their way up and then the ship finally breached the surface along with a handful of other ships.

Once the ship hit the bank, Zarkon opened a hatch next to him and then turned to acknowledge the rest of them, “We finally made it,” he stated as he waited for Haggar to unbuckle herself from her seat. When she joined him at his side, they exited the ship together.

The rest of them sat there in silence for a few moments in shock. The first to unbuckle himself and stand was Coran who then wordlessly helped the rest of them out of their seats.

Pidge was the first to be released. When they were free, they tried to stand up, but their legs wobbled and gave out and they crumbled onto the floor. Keith noticed their shoulders were shaking. When they fell, Shiro shot into action and quickly unbuckled himself. He reached down and gently grabbed their arms and pulled them up. 

Once they were on their feet again, Pidge fell against Shiro then started sobbing into Shiro’s shirt. He bent down and hugged them back and then picked them up. They immediately wrapped their legs around his waist as he carried them off the ship.

Just before Coran could assist Hunk and Shay, Hunk waved him off and undid Shay’s buckle. When Hunk finished, Shay stayed where she was and stared at something in front of her with a far away look in her eyes. Hunk knelt down in front of her and placed both his hands on her cheeks and stared at her until she was able to focus on him. She fell on him and they embraced each other for a moment before Hunk pulled away and helped Shay stand. Together, they stood up and leaned on each other and exited the ship.

As Keith was watching all of this unfold, he was slowly unbuckling himself and patted his satchel to ensure that the Journal was still in there. Coran stood in front of him and regarded him cautiously. Keith nodded to tell him he was okay and slowly stood up, keeping Red close to him. Coran wrapped his arm around Keith’s shoulders and guided him to the exit.

Nothing could’ve prepared him for what he saw in front of him.

Compared to the hundreds of people he saw before the expedition began, the scene in front of him seemed like a graveyard. Only a few dozen of them survived the trip and they all were shuffling around quietly. About half of them waited in line so Shiro could care for them. He saw that Hunk and Shay had stepped in to help with some of the lesser injured crew. Pidge was seated behind Shiro in a fetal position with their head between their legs.

Keith instantly felt a pang in his heart at the sight of them. This was a lot to process for his 22 year old self, so he can’t even imagine what’s going through their 19 year old head. He walked over to them, crouched down and put his hand on their shoulder. Pidge’s head snapped up and Keith saw that their eyes were bloodshot with fresh tears trailing down their dried ones.

Keith sat down next to them as they laid their head on his shoulder and wrapped their arms around him. Keith placed Red in his lap and stroked her fur. They stayed like that until Shiro crouched down in front of them.

“Hey,” Shiro started as he looked over at the two of them, “You guys doing okay?”

Keith and Pidge slowly nodded, but then jumped as Zarkon’s voice boomed through the cave.

“Everyone, around me.”

Keith slowly stood up and guided Pidge up to walk over to where Zarkon called everyone together. After a few moments of the rest of the crew shuffling together to listen to what Zarkon had to say, Zarkon put his arm behind Haggar’s back and regarded the rest of them.

“What happened today was a tragedy. We lost hundreds of brave men and woman and I understand that many of you are feeling shaken up or downtrodden,” Zarkon paused and used that moment to look over the crowd, “But we must grow stronger because of this. We must not let their deaths be in vain. We must use this misfortune to remind us of how desperately we need this. We must honor their sacrifice and use it to power us through to our goal.”

“And to honor those lost souls,” Coran added, moving over to stand next to Zarkon, “I had some candles stored into the pods in the unfortunate event that this may occur.”

Keith noticed movement in his peripheral and turned to see Hunk setting down a crate. He looked over at the opposite end of the crowd and noticed Shiro doing the same. The crowd slowly understood what was going on and gathered around Hunk and Shiro. As each person grabbed a candle, some grabbing more than one, Hunk and Shiro would light them and then everyone else started lighting each other's candles.

Once everyone’s candles were lit, each person crouched down by the water and lightly set them down and softly pushed them so they would slowly float downriver. Keith and the others were the last to do so. Keith set down Red, she sat by his foot and stared off towards the lights. The five of them placed their candles at the same time, Hunk remaining crouched longer than the rest of them. Once the candles started their journey, the five of them stood back up and held each other's hands as they watched the candles drift off.

Everyone stayed silent and watched the candles, mourning those they lost until the last of the candles were out of sight. Once the last candle drifted out of view, Keith picked Red back up as everyone started heading back to the ships to unload the drills and cars.

“Now, we’re gonna need all hands on deck for this. We’re heavily undermanned, so everyone’s going to be pulling their weight and more. Keith, have you ever driven one of these?”

Keith turned and looked up at Zarkon, who was seated in one of the Model T automobiles they stored into one of the ships.

“No, I can’t say that I have. Can’t be too hard, though,” Keith replied as Zarkon exited the car and Keith took his place.

Keith set down Red on the passenger seat and looked around the car and did a quick test of the different components.  _ You can do this. This isn’t too bad. _

“Alright, Keith,” Zarkon yelled up at him from the car behind him, “Lead the way.”

Keith took a deep breath and pulled out the Journal and looked it over to make sure he would be going the right way. Once he was sure of where to go, he started to inch the car forward. Not expecting the car to lurch forward, Keith immediately slammed on the brakes, causing Zarkon’s car to honk at him.

Feeling his face grow warm with frustration and embarrassment, Keith steeled himself and slowly pressed the gas pedal and drove forward. Once he paved a bit forward, he heard another honk behind him. He looked back through the rearview mirror and saw that the others were a ways behind him. Keith smirked to himself as he slowed down. After about an hour of driving, Keith heard Zarkon’s voice on the intercom.

“Alright, that’s enough for today.”

Keith slowed down to a stop and stepped out of the car.

“Alright, everybody. Go ahead and make camp. We still have a long trip ahead of us.”

As everyone dispersed to set up different camps, Keith picked up Red and searched for the others. He found them not too far away and made his way to them.

“Great driving, Keith. Those things are pretty hard to control,” Shiro said as he patted him on the back.

“Thanks. It was my first time,” Keith replied modestly and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Could’ve fooled me. You’re a natural, man,” Hunk said.

“Perhaps we should start to set up camp?” Shay suggested as she grabbed a few duffel bags from the nearby car.

“Great idea. Let’s go, team,” Shiro said earning an eyeroll from the rest of them.

When they finally got the tents set up, Keith doing most of the work and Pidge just sitting back to ‘supervise’ as they called it, they all laid in their respective tents. A beat of silence passed before Shiro spoke up.

“Alright, guys. We had a… very long and emotional day. Make sure you rest up.”

They all grumbled in agreement and soon, soft snores echoed throughout the camp until Keith was the only one awake. He rolled over and clutched Red, who was softly sleeping near him, close to his chest. He lightly petted Red’s side until he slowly drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of fun writing this chapter:D Hope you all enjoyed!  
> Please leave a kudo or a comment if you want to make a writer's day:D
> 
> Artist: Elidanus ([Tumblr](http://elidanus.tumblr.com/)/[Twitter](https://twitter.com/kdiffin2/))  
> Beta: Emmie ([Tumblr](http://moonlovingvampire.tumblr.com/)/[Ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonlovingvampire))  
> Me: Coco ([Tumblr](http://cocopbblez.tumblr.com/))
> 
> If you want to read any other stories from the Big Bang, go [Here](http://klancebb2017.tumblr.com/). There are tons of other stories there that deserve some lovin', too.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Emmie for being my lovely beta and to Eridanus for being an awesome artist<3  
> Just a little warning: There's mentions of abuse in this chapter. I don't go too into detail about it, (it's just someone talking about their experiences, who it is you'll just have to read to find out:) but I will add a *** before and after it if you feel it would be too triggering.  
> I hope you all enjoy:)

Keith jerked awake when he heard movement around his tent. He rubbed his eyes and scooted to the entrance of his tent. He pulled the tarp to see the outside and saw Hunk rustling the bags near him. Hunk looked over at Keith and then guiltily looked away.

“Sorry to wake you,” Hunk whispered.

“It’s no problem,” Keith whispered. “What’s up?”

Hunk sat there for a moment and then moved closer to Keith, “I had a nightmare and I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I figured if I ate a bit, I could fall back asleep.”

Keith exited his tent to sit in front of Hunk. He sat there for a moment before asking, “You want to talk about it?”

Hunk stared down at his hands, “In my nightmare, I was working in the engine room and then everything turned red and I heard water rushing,” Hunk swallowed hard, “I watched helplessly as several of the people I worked with were swallowed up by the water.”

Keith waited patiently as Hunk took a deep breath and started wringing his fingers together.

“And then you woke up?” Keith guessed.

Hunk shook his head, “Man, I wish. As I tried to save my crewmates, I heard...,” Hunk took a shaky breath, “I heard Shay scream. I turned around and she was just standing there screaming with a wave of water coming from behind her. I tried to run to her to save her, but no matter how hard I ran, I wasn’t getting any closer to her.”

Hunk stopped and combed  a shaky hand through his hair. “She kept screaming my name, hoping I could rescue her, and I was trying so hard. Then the water washed over her and she was gone. I fell to my knees as both waves of water hit me. And then I woke up.”

They both sat there in silence for a few moments while Keith was trying to figure out what to say. They heard rustling in Hunk and Shay’s tent and they looked back at it. Keith looked back at Hunk as he began to speak again, not taking his eyes off his tent. “I was just so scared to lose her. We were just lucky that we ran into one another as we were trying to get to each other.”

“I’m sorry,” Keith said. An awkward silence followed. He felt pathetic that he couldn’t think of anything else to say to help. “Sorry, I’m not good at this sort of thing.”

“It’s okay. You listening is enough. I needed to vent.”

They sat there in a slightly less awkward silence for a few moments until Hunk spoke up again.

“Do you have somebody in your life like that?” Hunk asked, but then suddenly widened his eyes and waved his hands in front of him. “Unless that’s too personal.”

“No, it’s fine,” Keith said. Hunk trusted Keith to tell him about his nightmare, so he figured it would be okay if he indulged Hunk. He was also thankful for the change of subject, however, he wasn’t too keen about this particular subject.

“I have Red,” Keith supplied, earning a chuckle from Hunk.

“I was thinking more along the human side,” Hunk laughed.

Keith felt his heart start to pick up speed, “Um, no. No, I don’t.”

“Really? I pegged you for the mysterious badboy who the chicks all fawned over.”

Keith looked down as his hands as he wrung them together, “Um…” Keith chuckled nervously, “Well, yeah. There’ve been some girls that’ve expressed interest in me, but it was usually for my looks. When they would find out how weird I was, they’d lose interest.”

“Was there never one that caught your interest?”

“Ha, uh, no. No, I was too concerned with other shit to worry about that,” Keith felt his face start to sweat.

Hunk looked at Keith with a concerned look on his face, like he knew Keith wasn’t telling him everything. “So, you’ve never been with anyone?”

Keith shook his head. He waited for Hunk to start laughing at him, but he only cocked his head to the side in confusion, “And that’s the only reason?”

Keith internally debated whether or not to tell Hunk that he only felt attraction to men. Not even his father knew, at least that he knew of. He didn’t want anyone treating him differently or hating him because of it. He was also scared what they may do to him if they found out. He’s read way too many articles in the newspaper about people like him.

But this was Hunk. He trusted Hunk.

“I’ve never really felt any attraction to…” Keith paused for a moment to take a deep breath, “to any girl.”

Keith noticed Hunk straighten up at the confession. Keith continued to stare down at his hands, preparing himself for Hunk’s reaction. They sat there for a moment while the Hunk processed this new bit of information, each second being agony.

“Oh,” Hunk finally said, “Kind of like Matt.”

Keith looked up at Hunk. Of all the responses he’s been expecting, that was not one of them.

“W-what?” Keith asked, perplexed.

“Pidge’s older brother. We’ve talked about him a few times. He’s the same way.”

Keith laughed, “You want to introduce us?”

Hunk laughed at Keith’s joke. “I would, but you’re a little too late, man. He’s already seeing someone.”

“Damn,” Keith joked, smiling as a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders.

“Yeah, he wasn’t being too slick about it, either. We all kind of figured it out. He had the _biggest_ crush on Shiro, but honestly, who hasn’t?” Hunk said, earning a chuckle out of Keith.

“So, is Shiro also…” Keith let the sentence hang off, hoping that Hunk would pick up on what he was implying.

Hunk thought it over for a bit, “You know, I’m not sure. Pidge may know. They know him better than I do. Why? Do you…”

Keith instantly widened his eyes and straightened up, waving his hands in Hunk’s face, “No! No, no, no,” Keith paused and glanced away feeling his face grow warm, “Well, maybe at first, but not anymore. It’d be like dating my brother or dad or something.”

Hunk laughed, which turned into a yawn. “I’m glad we had this talk. I’m feeling a lot better.”

Keith smiled at him. “Me, too.”

Hunk stood up and stretched, “Well, try to get some rest. Night, Keith,”

Keith gave Hunk a small wave as Hunk headed back to his tent, “Goodnight.”

Keith stayed outside his tent for a little while longer and looked around the campsite. His heart started swelling as he thought of how lucky he was that he knew these people. Especially after what they’ve been through and the conversation with Hunk, he felt like he could trust them with anything.

He crawled back inside his tent and laid down waiting to fall back to sleep. After a while, he realized that he wasn’t going back to bed anytime soon, so he grabbed a flashlight and pulled the Journal out to go over it.

After a few hours, Keith heard rustling from a nearby tent. He quickly put away the Journal and turned off the flashlight. He nestled in his sleeping bag and feigned being asleep so whoever was awake wouldn’t harp on him for not sleeping.

He heard someone open his tent for a few seconds and then set it back down. Keith risked his ruse and cracked an eye open. He didn’t see anyone in the tent and then decided to ‘wake up’. He waited a few moments before crawling out of his tent and saw Shiro stretching off in the distance.

He walked over to him and awkwardly waved at him when Shiro turned and saw him. Shiro smiled and waved Keith over.

“Hey, bud. You sleep well?” Shiro asked, ruffling the top of Keith’s head once he was close enough. Keith swiped his hand off with a scoff.

“I slept alright considering,” Keith replied, not being entirely untruthful.

“Yeah, yesterday was… rough,” Shiro said, rubbing the back of his neck, “But we got through it together and that’s all that matters.”

Keith nodded in agreement.

“Well, I was gonna do a run around the whole camp if you want to join.” Shiro asked with a warm smile.

Keith smiled back and raised an eyebrow at him, “You’re still wanting to exercise?”

Shiro chuckled, “A good dose of normality is what we need in a situation like this.”

Keith laughed, “What does that even mean?”

“You tell me, linguistics,” Shiro said, crossing his arms over his chest, “Now, you wanna join me or not?”

“Sure, why not.”

Keith joined Shiro in a few warming up exercises. When they were finished with that, they started to run with Shiro. After taking a few laps around camp, Shiro called it a day and they headed back to the camp. Once they returned, everyone was awake and huddled around the fire that was lit up.

“There they are!” Hunk exclaimed when he saw the two of them, “See, I told you they were okay.”

Pidge repeated what Hunk said mockingly as they crossed their arms over their chest. Shiro laughed and ruffled their hair as he walked past, causing Pidge to giggle. Keith smiled at the exchange, happy that Pidge was back to themself.

“So, what’s on the menu today, Chef Hunk?” Shiro asked as he took a seat next to Pidge.

“Vegetable stew,” Hunk answered, earning a groan from the rest of them. “Hey, that’s all we have. Most of our supplies were destroyed with the…”

Hunk trailed off with a far away look in his eye. A blanket of tension settled on the group as Shiro worried looked around them. Wanting to lighten the mood again, Shiro spoke up.

“Well, considering the only thing we have other than that is rocks, I think I’ll take the stew.”

“I would not recommend the rocks. They taste worse than they look,” Shay added, causing the group to laugh.

“Dammit!” Pidge laughed, “I was about to make a rock joke about you.”

The group continued to converse and eat in zest for a bit. Shiro was in the middle of teaching the group how to say ‘Eat shit’ in Japanese when Coran approached them.

“Good to see that you fellows are in good spirits,” Coran started, surprising the others. It was like he appeared out of nowhere. How in the hell does he do that?

Once everyone greeted him, Coran said, “Zarkon wanted me to inform you all that we need to start packing up camp and hit the road soon.”

“Yeah, sure thing, Coran,” Shiro smiled.

“That reminds me,” Coran turned to Shiro, “You should also check to make sure the people heavily injured from yesterday are good to go.”

“Of course,” Shiro answered with a sad look in his eye.

“Well, come on. We don’t have all day. Chop chop!” Coran exclaimed and waited until the group was on their feet and moving. Once they started working on the tents, Coran seemingly disappeared.

“I wanna know how he does that,” Pidge said as they struggled to figure out how to take their tent down. “Seems like it would be useful.”

“What? Him sneaking up on us?” Hunk asked as he put away the food.

“It is very strange that he is able to travel somewhere unnoticed,” Shay added while she was folding the sleeping bags.

“I bet it’s the mustache,” Keith joked, smiling as everyone laughed at his joke.

Once Keith’s tent was put away, he glanced over and noticed that Pidge had somehow entangled themselves in several ropes. Keith sighed and headed over to release them from whatever mess they created.

“How is it that you’re able to do all that techy shit, but you can’t take down a goddamn tent?” Keith asked as he struggled to free Pidge.

“I do _techy shit_ everyday. It’s easy,” Pidge said, finally being freed from the tent prison they created, “I’ve never been camping or anything. Camping’s hard.”

Keith looked down at Pidge and watched as they rubbed where the ropes were taught on their skin. He felt sorry for them, but then an idea popped in his head.

“Let me pitch your tent for you from now on.”

Pidge stopped and squinted their eyes at him, “What’s in it for you?”

Keith crossed his arms over his chest as he smirked down at them, “I won’t have to keep saving you from accidentally strangling yourself.”

Pidge paused for a moment.

“Deal.” they said as they shook hands with him.

It didn’t take them long to finish putting camp away after that. Once they were finished, they separated and headed to their respective vehicles and started the trek through the cave.

This became the routine for the entirety of the time they spent in the cave. They would wake up, Shiro and Keith would go on a run, and then they would eat until it was time to pack up camp. Then, they’d continue moving through the cave for most of the day with Keith leading the way. They would only stop when Zarkon would give them the signal that they can stop progress for the day.

When they would reach a wall that they needed to drill through, Keith would stop and Shay would come in front with her drill and examine it. Once she found out what kind of rock it was and where the safest way to drill through it was, she’d climb back in her drill and drill through it safely.

Whenever they reached a large gap they needed to cross, Coran would then come forward in his vehicle and examine the various assortment of ruins around them. When he found a suitable pillar or something of the like, he’d rustle through his explosives and, after conversing with Shay, pick out the right ones to use. He’d then use the explosives to create a bridge to cross on.

If something were to happen to one of the vehicles, Hunk and Pidge would quickly see to it and get it working again, which happened often, especially with the drill. Sometimes, it would take a bit because they would usually get off track when talking about stuff like that. Whenever they got off track, someone would cough loudly, forcing them to shift their focus back on the task at hand.

Keith did his best to make sure they were going the right way, but every once in awhile, the translation wouldn’t add up right and he would accidentally send them in the wrong direction. He felt guilty when he would figure out they were going the wrong way when Shay was in the middle of drilling or when they were halfway across one of Coran’s bridge.

He would quickly fix it, but everytime it happened, he would receive an ugly look from Zarkon. _I’d like to see you do better_ , Keith thought angrily every time it happened.

After a week and a half of constant travelling, they came across a makeshift stone bridge that forked off into two different directions with a giant husk that glowed a faint yellow on the roof of the cavern. Zarkon gave the signal to stop and make camp for the night. Once the crew members dispersed to set up their respective camps, Zarkon approached Keith.

“How much farther do we need to proceed?” Zarkon asked.

Keith looked down at the Journal. “We should be there by tomorrow by the looks of it.”

“Excellent,” Zarkon said with a glint in his eye, “This is definitely most pleasing. Everyone!”

Zarkon’s voice boomed through the room, catching everyone’s attention. Keith noticed that the husk on the roof pulsed a bit at the sound, but then quickly returned to normal.

“Make sure you are all prepared for what is to come. Keith has just informed me that this’ll be the last night we spend in this dreaded cave, for tomorrow we will reach our goal. Tomorrow will be the day our lives change. Tomorrow we will finally arrive in Atlantis!”

Everyone in the area started to cheer, causing the sudden glowing from the husk to go unnoticed. Once the cheers started to quiet down, Zarkon made his way to where he was staying and Keith made his way over to his group.

“Can you believe it?” Pidge exclaimed once Keith joined them. “Atlantis. This is going to be so fucking cool.”

“Come on, guys,” Shiro interrupted as he pulled the camp supplies out of the car, “I know you’re excited, but we still have to set up camp.”

“At least this’ll be the last time we have to do it,” Hunk mumbled to himself.

“Hey, Keith?” Pidge asked behind him as he was about to start setting up his tent.

“Yeah, Pidge?”

“Can you teach me how to set up the tent?” Pidge asked as they looked down at the ground sheepishly.

“You want me to teach you how to do it on the last night of the trip?” Keith asked incredulously.

“Well, yeah,” Pidge said, “If you taught me on the first night, then I would’ve known how to do it and then I would’ve had to do _manual labor_ for the remainder of the trip.”

Keith chuckled fondly, “Fine, you little shit.”

He explained how to set up the tent as he set up his and then watched Pidge as they made theirs. The result wasn’t the greatest tent ever, but it’ll get the job done. Keith jumped in surprise when Pidge suddenly hugged him from the side.

“Thanks, Keith.”

Keith smiled and wrapped an arm around them to give them a hug back, “Looks good. I think you’ll be a master tent builder one day.”

“Yeah, like I’ll be camping again anytime soon.” Pidge said as they pulled away.

“Until the return trip,” Keith said.

Pidge widened their eyes as they realized what Keith said. “Fuck.”

“Hey, at least you know how to do it now.” Keith said with a laugh.

They playfully pushed Keith and stuck their tongue out at him causing Keith to chuckle. He looked over and noticed that Shiro was smiling at the two of them.

“It’s so nice to see my kids bonding,” Shiro pretended to wipe a tear from his eye, “Gives an old man hope.”

Both Pidge and Keith scoffed at him and joined the others huddled around the fire while Hunk cooked for them.

“Hopefully, this will be the last time I cook for you heathens,” Hunk said as he filled everyone’s bowls with stew.

“But Huuunk, I can’t live without your cooking! I’m already shrivelling up just thinking about it,” Pidge said as they dramatically raised their hand over their eyes and leaned back

“Keith,” Hunk said after he served everybody, “Shiro’s been teaching us some dirty Japanese. How about you teach us some dirty Atlantean?”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Uh,” Keith rubbed the back of his head, “Well, considering that everything I’ve studied has been professional, I’m afraid I haven’t had the opportunity to learn any dirty Atlantean.”

“Well, that sucks.” Pidge said with a gross look on their face. “Then what’s the point?”

“I was kind of hoping someone else could speak another language so I wouldn’t be the only one teaching these kids how to curse in Japanese.” Shiro said, slumping a bit.

“You have been very good at it, Shiro.” Shay said.

“Yeah, who else am I going to go to if I want to learn how to say ‘Fuck off’ in Japanese?” Pidge added.

“How do you say that?” Keith asked, looking at Shiro.

Shiro smiled and looked around at the rest of them, “That was one of the first ones I taught you guys. Anyone remember?”

They were all silent in thought when Pidge raised their hand. “Oh, oh! Wasn’t it ‘kusokurae’ or something?”

“No, that was ‘Eat shit’.” Shay corrected.

“Oh!” Hunk exclaimed, almost spilling his food, “It was ‘uzeendayo’!”

Shiro pointed at Hunk, “There you go. Proud of you.”

They used the remainder of dinner to quiz each other on the various Japanese they learned through Shiro. When they were finished eating, they talked for a little while longer until Shiro convinced them to go to sleep. They cleaned up and then they all headed to their respective tents.

Keith lay in his tents for a few moments, absentmindedly stroking Red until he heard Pidge speak.

“So, what led you to study Atlantis, Keith?”

Keith rolled over so he was laying on his stomach and rested his head on his arms. He looked over at Pidge, who was in the same position as him and was looking at him with a curious look on their face.

“My father. He always loved stories and myths and I grew up with him telling me about them. He always told them with such enthusiasm. Every night, I looked forward to him telling me a new story that he heard or read about. It was one of my favorite things when I was growing up.

“After my mom left us, he raised me by himself. It was tough most days, but we made it through. Even when we had nothing, it didn’t matter to us. We were content just being together. He used all the money we had saved to put me through school. When I was in school, he would go traveling and used that money to keep me in school.

“After he died, my whole world felt like it imploded in on me. He was the only person who understood me. Made me feel special. Like, I wasn’t some freak. I miss him a lot.”

“I heard about what happened to him. I’m sorry for your loss,” Shiro said from where he was lying. He was positioned on his back and was looking up at the roof of the cavern. “He sounds like a good man. I lost both my parents recently, so I know exactly how you feel.

“I hadn’t seen them in years and finally got the time off from the hospital to visit them. On our way to eat out somewhere, we got into a really bad wreck and both of them died on impact. I made it out, but not before I lost something,” Shiro raised his prosthetic arm in the air and stared up at it.

“I can’t even imagine what it would be like to lose my parents,” Pidge commented, moving to lay on their side with their hands pressed together under their head. “They’re everything to me. They’ve been the most supportive in mine and my brother’s lives when it would’ve been easier to abandon us like most other parents do. They’ve been with both Matt and I through our worst days and our best days.

“Matt confiding in them about his boyfriend and them still loving him all the same gave me the courage to tell them about who I am. They allowed us to be who we are and I’ll forever be grateful for them.”

“The folks who adopted me are the same,” Hunk said. He was on his side as when, but was propped up by his arm. Shay lay in front of him, her back pressed up against his stomach. “I mean, they did spend a bunch of money and time to get me,” he joked.

***

“If it was not for them, I would not have been able to get away from my parents,” Shay reminisced as Hunk pulled her closer to him. “I used to come home from school in fear of what awaited me. Whether it be the belt from my father or the rings from my mother.

“The days my father would go out drinking would be what left me truly fearful. I would lay awake every night in fear of another lashing from my mother, giving me matching marks from what he would do to her, or something worse from my father.

***

“One night, it became so bad that I knew I had to leave. I was able to slip away and I went to the first place I thought of where I would be safe. Hunk’s parent graciously accepted me and they helped me realize what having a family is supposed to be like, just as you all have shown me.

“That is why I was not able to join you all for breakfast on the ship. I still have nightmares about them. Most nights, they are not too bad, but every once in awhile…”

“You did the right thing when you ran away,” Shiro said after a moment of silence. “No parent should treat their child that way. Thank you for telling us. It couldn’t have been easy.”

The five of them laid there in silence and one by one, they eventually fell asleep except for Keith. He laid there in silence until he felt the need to relieve himself.

He grabbed his flashlight and some cloth and walked off to find a good spot to go. As he fumbled with his pants, he was unknowingly shining the light on the mysterious husk. The yellow light shined brighter and brighter and eventually caught Keith’s attention.

He looked up and saw that the light seemed to be expanding. He squinted his eyes, regretting not bringing his glasses, and realized that the yellow light was emanating from small, insect-like creatures. They were spilling out of the husk and were heading straight for Keith. Keith stood there in fascination and studied them. When they were close enough, he raised his hand to let them land on him.

One of them landed on his hand and he immediately felt excruciating pain where it landed and he involuntarily yelled out. As he started swatting at them, the flashlight starting shining on the tents, leading the insects to fly to them.

“Oh, no,” Keith whispered to himself.

He ran over to the camp and yelled, “Everyone get up! We need to leave!”

Everyone groggily poked their heads out of their tents at the commotion as the bugs started landing on the tents. As soon as the insects landed, the spot they were would immediately combust into flames.

Keith ran into his tent as the others realized what was happening and got up to run to the vehicles, waking up and warning the rest. Keith quickly put on his glasses and grabbed Red and his satchel with the Journal in it and ran to join the others.

Everything seemed to be on fire as Keith sped past the tents, creating walls of fire Keith had to quickly maneuver around. When he noticed that the cars were already on the move and were attempting to cross the bridge, he started running faster.

A tent crumpled in front of Keith and he jumped over it to avoid getting burned. He finally caught up to the cars and noticed that Shay was holding out her hand for Keith to grab. Once he was close enough, he threw Red in first and then grabbed Shay’s hand.

Just as she was about to pull him up, the car hit a bump, causing Keith to slip out of Shay’s grip. The last thing he remembered is hearing her call his name as he fell over the side and tumbled down a steep incline.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Achilles heel is bonding of any kind, so I really enjoyed writing this. Hope you all enjoyed reading it! I update every Saturday:)  
> Please leave a kudo or a comment if you want to make a writer's day:D
> 
> Artist: Elidanus ([Tumblr](http://elidanus.tumblr.com/)/[Twitter](https://twitter.com/kdiffin2/))  
> Beta: Emmie ([Tumblr](http://moonlovingvampire.tumblr.com/)/[Ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonlovingvampire))  
> Me: Coco ([Tumblr](http://cocopbblez.tumblr.com/))
> 
> If you want to read any other stories from the Big Bang, go [Here](http://klancebb2017.tumblr.com/). There are tons of other stories there that deserve some lovin', too.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

The first thing Keith was able to process was the sound of shuffling near him. He tried to open his eyes, but a sharp pain in his head stopped him from doing so. Quiet whispers slowly became audible around him and his heart fell to his stomach. None of them sounded familiar to him.

He violently willed himself to open his eyes, suddenly becoming dizzy and making the sharp pain in his head worse. At first, his vision was a big blur. He blinked hard several times and squinted to clear his sight. The blurs started turning into shapes and those shapes slowly morphed into people. With a startled gasp, Keith tried to scramble backwards, but was stopped by a large rock.

There were five people standing around him, each of them wearing giant, wooden masks with faces carved into them and painted with various shades of blue. One of them, Keith assumed he was the leader since his mask was more intricate than the others, stepped forward and reached out to him. Keith immediately swiped the person’s hand away, causing the others to raise their spears to him. Keith steeled himself for a fight, but he hoped they wouldn’t call his bluff. He was in no shape to even stand up let alone defend himself against an attack. 

Before they could do anything, the one who stepped closer to Keith raised his hand to signal them to hold. As the others lowered their spears, Keith watched as the leader reached down and slowly raise his mask up, setting it down next to him.  Keith felt the whole world slow to a stop as the man showed himself.

The first thing Keith noticed were his deep blue eyes and they were captivating. The light blue hues in his eyes were brought out by the blue boomerang-shaped tattoos on his cheekbones. The soft light from the crystal hanging from his neck illuminated his tan skin and snow-white hair, which was styled in a boyish pixie cut.

The stranger reached down and raised the crystal hanging around his neck up, leaning forward to hover it near Keith’s shoulder. Keith made to smack his hand away again, but the man was ready this time and seized it with his free hand. They stared at each other for a moment until Lance broke the stare-down to look pointedly at Keith’s shoulder, looking back and forth from Keith’s face to his shoulder. Keith furrowed his brows and then glanced down. His eyes widened when he noticed that he had a gash running down from his shoulder to his chest.

As the stranger drew closer to Keith, Keith tried to create some distance between them. He may be the most beautiful person he’s ever seen, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be dangerous. Keith didn’t know what the crystal could do or what it was capable of.

The man stopped and the both of them locked eyes again. Keith’s hardened resolve softened at the look the stranger was giving him. He seemed to be trying to tell Keith to trust him. Keith sat there for a moment weighing out the pros and cons. This man and his followers could’ve killed them at any point, but he was still alive. Keith softly nodded and leaned back against the rock and squeezed his eyes shut.

Keith gasped at the cold sensation that suddenly spread over where his injury was. Keith was expecting there to be more pain than the sharp sting of cold, but even that quickly changed from pain to pleasure to numbness. Keith opened his eyes and looked down to see what was happening.

The stranger was pointing his crystal at it and slowly hovered it over the wound as the wound slowly closed up. Once the wound was healed, Keith lightly touched where it had seemingly disappeared and, other than it feeling cold, it was like nothing had happened. Keith looked back up and locked eyes with the man.

The man gave him a soft smile that was quickly wiped away as he turned his head to look behind him. Keith furrowed his eyebrows in confusion until he faintly heard people calling out his name. The stranger quickly pulled the mask back on and retreated with the others.

“W- wait! Come back!” Keith yelled. He tried to stand up to chase after them, but his vision blurred and he braced himself on the rock.

“Keith? Is that you?” he heard Shay yell out.

“Yeah, I’m over here!” Keith yelled back, but then flinched as his head panged.

He noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and turned slightly to see Shay round the corner. He then closed his eyes and heard Shay run to him and give him a hug.

“Oh my god, Keith I am so sorry! This is all my fault!” She cried into his shoulder, “I was so scared that you may have been dead and it would have been all my fault!”

“No, it’s okay. I know you did all you could. I’m fine,” Keith whispered keeping his eyes closed and reciprocating the hug.

He felt Shay pull away from him, “You do not seem fine. Do you need to see Shiro?”

Keith hummed in agreement and then leaned on Shay as she lead him to the others. He kept his eyes closed, hoping to keep the headache at bay. He figured they finally reached the others when he heard several exclamations from them, but they were instantly shushed by Shay.

“He is injured. Shiro, I need you to look at him,” Shay said, leading Keith to where Shiro was. Keith was then transferred to Shiro. He held on to Shiro’s upper arms as he held Keith’s face in his hands.

“Alright, bud. I need you to open your eyes and follow my finger,” Keith did as he was told and was met with a Shiro’s finger shining in his face, which did not help with his headache. “It seems you have a mild concussion. You’ll need to rest for a bit.”

“I can’t,” Keith protested, “I need to find the guy who helped me.”

“What guy? I did not see anyone with you,” Shay asked.

“What happened to your shirt?” Pidge asked, pointing out the tear and the blood around it.

“I must’ve gotten hurt during the fall. I was found by some people and one of them...” Keith’s thoughts trailed off as the man’s face flashed in his mind. He shook his head slightly, taking the image out of his mind. This wasn’t the time. “One of them healed the gash that was here,” Keith pointed to the rip.

“How? I don’t see anything there. Not even a scar,” Shiro remarked, examining it.

“He used some sort of crystal,” Keith answered, “I think they were Atlanteans.”

They all looked at him in silence for a moment.

“Atlanteans?” Hunk finally said. “Like, real life Atlanteans?”

“Where’d they go? Maybe they can lead us to it.” Pidge suggested.

Keith looked down and thought hard, but then winced as he felt his head start to throb, “I can’t remember.”

“Alright, guys. Give him some space. Leave him be,” Shiro cautioned.

Keith then saw a flash of movement behind Shiro. He could barely make out the mask.

“There! There they are!” Keith exclaimed as he ran to where they disappeared.

“Keith! Wait!” He heard Shiro shout, but his warning fell on deaf ears. He had to see him again.

Keith felt himself stumble a few times as he raced to keep up with the Atlanteans, but he somehow kept them in his sights. Even when they would disappear from his sight, he would see them again in a different place. After turning a corner, he noticed a light shining through an opening in the cave. He caught a quick glimpse for the group running through the exit. He ran right for the opening and stumbled out.

Once he cleared the mouth of the cave, all the adrenaline drained out of him and he fell to his knees. He closed his eyes and willed his nausea to go down. He stayed like that, taking deeps breaths and grabbing onto the fabric of his pants to try to stop the shaking of his hands. 

Once the feeling passed, he looked up and felt his jaw drop at the sight. He slowly stood up and shuffled to the edge of the cliff face. 

Off in the distance, there was a city bigger than anything they’ve ever seen before. The city seemed to be floating in midair and was surrounded with a body of water. When the water reached the edge of the city, the body of water would become waterfalls that flowed off the edges. There were spots of forests within the city and the green contrasted with the blue hue of the city. Behind the city was a giant waterfall that rivaled that of Niagara Falls, towering over the city.

As he sat there in amazement as he heard the others come through the mouth of the cave. Keith expected them to yell at him to ask him what the hell he was thinking, but anything they began to say drifted off as they gaped at the view.

Keith heard some shuffling of vegetation behind him that snapped him out of his awe. He quickly turned around and gasped as the Atlanteans he encountered before slowly surrounded them with their spears at the ready. The others heard him and turned to see what happened, raising their hands up in surrender so they wouldn’t become hostile. Then the man Keith recognized as the leader stepped forward and snapped something in quickfire Atlantean.

Keith stood in shock for a moment at the slight growl that accompanied his voice. He felt Pidge bump him in the back and he looked down at them as they nodded in the direction of the Atlanteans. He gave them a questioning look and then noticed everyone else was staring at him. His heart sped up when he realized they were waiting for him to say something and he quickly wracked his brain for anything to say. His slight concussion wasn’t helping either.

“ _ Sorry. Please say again. _ ” Keith said in broken Atlantian. Reading a foreign language and speaking it were two  _ very  _ different things.

The leader cocked his head to the side and removed his mask again. Keith felt his heart jump again slightly at the look of amusement on the man’s face, but then mentally shook his head.

The man spoke again, but was asking something along the lines of if he could speak Atlantean.

“ _ Very little. _ ” Keith replied, feeling his face flush in embarrassment.

The leader chuckled and asked something else. Keith caught the word ‘language’.

“English. We speak English.” Keith responded.

The leader looked up in thought and then regarded the group again with a lopsided smile, “I think I can do that.”

If Keith was able to melt, he would’ve done so at that moment. This was not good.

“You can all call me ‘Lance’. What brings you here?” Lance asked.

“We’re… explorers,” Shiro answered as he stepped forward, putting himself between the Atlanteans and the others. “I’m Shiro. These guys are Keith, Pidge, Hunk, and Shay. We mean you no harm.”

Lance hummed and regarded them closely, “We’ll be the judge of that. Come with me. You need to talk to our King before you do anything else.”

“Wait,” Hunk said, turning everyone’s attention to him. “We need to get Zarkon first.”

“‘Zarkon’? What’s a ‘Zarkon’?” Lance asked, scrunching up his nose in confusion.  _ Wow, that was cute _ , Keith thought to himself.

“He is the leader or this expedition. He is the one who leads us,” Shay explained, “Hunk is right. We should have him join us.”

Lance thought over their request, “Okay, who is the fastest among you all?” he asked.

Pidge raised their hand, “I can do it.”

Lance nodded and moved out of the way, allowing Pidge to run back into the cave to get Zarkon. A few moments after they disappeared, Lance leaned to one of the Atlanteans and whispered something to them. Lance then nodded his head in the direction of the cave the Atlantean ran inside after them.

“What are you-” Shiro protested, but was then cut off by the wave of Lance’s hand.

“She won’t do anything,” Lance comforted, “We’re just making sure the girl comes back with only your leader,”

“The person,” Hunk corrected.

Lance cocked his head in confusion, “Yes, I understand she’s a person.”

“No,” Shiro added, shaking his head, “ _ they _ aren’t a girl or a boy. They’re just Pidge.”

“And what is a ‘Pidge’?” Lance asked. Keith would’ve laughed at the expression on Lance’s face if there weren’t four spears fixated on them.

“Pidge is their name,” Shay explained.

“Oh, my bad,” Lance said sheepishly, “Sorry if I’ve offended.”

They stood there in a slightly awkward silence as they waited for Pidge to return with Zarkon. Keith couldn’t help but stare at Lance. Now that they were in the sunlight, he could see more of him and it was hard to look away. Lance was standing there with his arms crossed over his chest and regarded each of them closely. When he turned his attention to Keith, Keith quickly looked away and felt his face grow warm.  _ Not good, not good, not good. _

When Keith chanced a glance back at Lance, he saw that Lance was still staring at him, but Keith noticed that Lance was giving him the smallest of smiles. Keith pointedly kept his gaze away from Lance, feeling Lance’s eyes bore into him until Pidge came back with Zarkon in tow.

Zarkon quickly scanned the scene and then focused his attention on Lance, “I’ve been told that we need to speak to your King?”

Lance nodded, “Yes, one moment.”

Lance leaned over and whispered something to one of the Atlanteans and they raced off across a thin bridge that lead to the city. The Atlantean who was ordered to follow Pidge silently slinked out of the cave, replacing the Atlantean who just ran off.

“I sent him ahead of us to inform King Alfor of our arrival,” Lance explained and then signalled them to follow him.

Before they stepped on the bridge, Keith heard a whistle near the mouth of the cave. Everyone quickly spun around and saw Coran admiring the view of the city.

The Atlanteans immediately drew their weapons and started to charge at him. Keith and the others raced to get between them and Coran.

“Wait, wait, wait!” They all yelled simultaneously.

“He’s good! He’s with us!” Shiro yelled over the rest of them.

Lance looked over them until his eyes rested on Keith. He seemed to be waiting for Keith’s approval. Keith nodded at him to convey that Coran’s good.

Lance nodded back, “Let him come.”

With that, they made their way across the bridge singlefile with Lance leading the way and one of the Atlanteans taking the rear. When they reached the city, all the citizens they passed would pause what they were doing and gawk at the looks of them. Choruses of gasps and whispers spread throughout the crowd as they passed through and Keith started to feel uncomfortable.

Behind him, Shiro must’ve noticed because he placed a comforting hand on Keith’s shoulder and lightly squeezed. Keith felt himself loosen up and silently wished that Red was with him.

When they reached the palace gates, Keith stopped for a moment to gawk at the sheer size and beauty of it. One of the Atlanteans poked him in the back with a spear, pulling Keith out of his trance. Keith yelped in surprise, catching the attention of Lance.

Lance looked back and snapped in Atlantean to the man. The only words Keith recognized were ‘harm’ and ‘pretty’. Keith guessed at what he had said and looked up at Lance in shock. Lance looked back at him and winked at him with a smirk. Keith felt his face grow warm at the action.

They continued on and entered the castle, everyone but the Atlanteans gasped at the sheer size of it. The entrance of the palace was the biggest room Keith had ever seen. In the back of the room was a giant staircase that led to the rest of the castle. From there, the staircase branched off and circle up to two other doors.

They followed Lance up the staircase into a huge dining room, the table in the middle of it extending from one end of the room to the other. They walked past the table and came up to an intricately designed door, covered in golds, silvers, and gems. Lance knocked the ring that served as a handle in a certain way. After a moment, the door slowly opened and they all stepped through into the throne room. They were met with a man, who Keith assumed was King Alfor, sitting on an intricately designed throne with a woman that shared similar features with him standing by his side. 

Even Keith could appreciate how beautiful the woman was with her white hair spilling out in waves behind her back and wearing an ornate dress of whites, blues, and purples. She was wearing a golden circlet around her head that had a pale blue gem in the middle. Keith assumed she was the princess.

The Atlantean Lance had sent ahead was kneeling down in front of the King with his head bent down. Lance stood next to the Atlantean and copied his stance, bowing his head for a second before looking up at the King. Keith and the others, uncertain what they were supposed to do, awkwardly did the same behind them.

Lance started speaking in Atlantean to the King and Keith tried as hard as he could to listen and understand what he was saying.

“Lance is explaining how he found us to him,” Keith whispered, drawing the others closer to him to hear. When Lance was finished speaking, King Alfor replied back, sounding annoyed.

“The King wants us to leave immediately.” Keith translated, receiving worried looks from the rest of them.

Lance attempted to speak, but then King Alfor cut him off.

“He doesn’t want to hear anymore of it,” Keith explained. The woman next to the King and started speaking to him. Keith heard the Atlantean word for ‘father’, confirming that the woman must’ve been the princess.

“She’s telling him something along the lines about this city dying and they should take a chance with us because maybe we can help,”

The King waited a moment, pondering her words and then regarded the group, “What is your purpose for your journey?”

Zarkon cleared his throat, put on his most charming smile, and stood up, “From where we come from, everyone’s heard of your wonderful city, but it is believed to be nothing more than a myth. We’ve come to see if there was any truth to this and how to work together in order to prosper from each other.”

The King regarded him for a moment and then looked to his daughter, who was staring at him with a pleading look in her eye, and then sighed.

“Very well. You may stay,” the King decided, earning a silent cheer from the others, “but for only three days. If you do not deliver on your promise, then you must leave and never return.”

A flash of irritation flashed across Zarkon’s face before he smiled and politely bowed, “I appreciate your offer, your Majesty.”

The King then turned his attention to Lance, who was still knelt down on the ground with his head bowed, and spoke to him. From what Keith could gather, the King ordered Lance to watch over them as they brought their supplies in and then told him to show us where we will be staying.

Lance nodded and thanked the King before standing up. He turned to the rest of them and gestured for them to leave. Once they all cleared out and the throne room doors closed on them, Lance leaned back against the door and closed his eyes.

“Well, that went… a lot differently than I expected,” Lance said as he pushed off the wall. He walked ahead of the group and started to lead them back through the city. “But, hey! At least he didn’t kick you guys out.”

“There’s always that,” Keith murmured earning a chuckle from Lance. The soft laugh created small butterflies in his stomach, causing Keith to smile. This was very bad.

As they made their way through the city to gather their supplies, Lance struck up a conversation with Hunk in front of him. Keith couldn’t focus on what they were talking about. He was too distracted by how expressive Lance was with his hands and the way his eyes crinkled up when he laughed. Keith noticed with a small snort of amusement that Lance’s ears twitched when a slight breeze passed through them.

Keith heard a cough next to him, pulling him out of his trance. He looked down next to him and saw Pidge staring at him with a knowing look.

“What are you looking at?” he asked.

“Oh, nothing. You just reminded me of my brother and how he used to be with Shiro.”

Keith felt a blush flare on his face and looked away from them, “Shut up,” he grumbled, causing Pidge to laugh at him and pat him on the back.

The rest of the walk was uneventful until they reached where the crew was waiting with the vehicles and supplies. Zarkon ordered them to move out after Lance explained to them the exit the vehicles had to go out of in order to get to the city. 

Keith was more concerned with the ball of red fluff that rushed up to him. Keith was finally reunited with Red and he picked her up to nuzzle his face against her’s.

“I’m so glad you’re okay, girl,” he whispered to her. He felt someone staring and he glanced over to see Lance looking over at him. Before Keith had time to notice the look on his face, Lance quickly looked away and started a conversation with Pidge, who was next to him. Keith looked back at Red and busied himself with her.

When they made it back to the castle with the supplies, a crowd of people were waiting around the palace to get a look at the human strangers. They entered the part of the castle that they could put their equipment in and made sure everything was put away. 

Once everything was properly squared away, Lance had them follow him to the part of the castle where they would be staying. The layout was very similar to the ship, but it was a lot cleaner. They were in a long hallway that was lined with rooms. Lance walked up to the first room and produced a small card.

“I’ll be assigning everyone to a room,” Lance explained, “Each room has a card that you can scan to open it. Think of it as a key.” 

Lance demonstrated how to use the card to open the door and then walked through the crowd to assign each person to a room until he reached Hunk and Shay. He gave each of them a separate card.

“Wait, Shay and I’ll be in separate rooms?” Hunk asked, sharing a panicked look with Shay. “I can’t do that. I have to be with Shay.”

“Yes, I have to be with Hunk.” Shay pleaded, her voice shaking slightly as she held onto Hunk’s arm.

Lance looked between the two, seeming to get the hint. “Okay, he have some double rooms I can put you in.”

After Shay and Hunk thanked him, Lance turned to address the others. “Is there anyone else who has a significant other they want to stay with?”

“My wife and I require a place to stay,” Zarkon said, wrapping his arm around Haggar’s shoulder.

“You’ll already be staying in one of the master guest rooms, so she can join you there,” Lance explained, receiving a hum of approval from Zarkon.

When it came to Keith to receive a room, Lance shuffled through the cards to find a specific one. When he finally found it, he gave it to Keith, avoiding his eyes. Keith cocked his head in slight confusion.

Once everyone was assigned a room, Lance explained what time each meal will be served, where they go for food, and that they were allowed free roam of the city, but if anything were to happen, they all must leave immediately.

Everyone nodded in understanding and then dispersed to find their rooms. Keith could feel exhaustion overcoming his, so he dragged his feet down the hallway until he found the room that matched his card. He swiped the card and it automatically opened. He was too tired to be surprised at the door, instead dropping his bag to the floor and curling up on his bed around Red. Sleep found him almost instantly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lance finally makes an appearance!!! Hooray!!! And Keith's already quite smitten (but who can blame him, tbh:P) Fun Fact: Keith's experience with Atlantian is based off my experience with Japanese. I can read it just fine, but speaking it is a different matter, especially when you have no one to practice with:/
> 
> Don't forget to leave a kudo or a comment if you want to make a writer's day:)
> 
> Credits  
> Artist: Elidanus ([Tumblr](http://elidanus.tumblr.com/)/[Twitter](https://twitter.com/kdiffin2/))  
> Beta: Emmie ([Tumblr](http://moonlovingvampire.tumblr.com/)/[Ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonlovingvampire))  
> Me: Coco ([Tumblr](http://cocopbblez.tumblr.com/))
> 
> If you want to read any other stories from the Big Bang, go [Here](http://klancebb2017.tumblr.com/). There are tons of other stories there that deserve some lovin', too.


	7. Chapter 7

Through his sleep filled haze, Keith could barely make out the sound of knocking on his door. He rolled over to his side and squeezed his eyes tighter, hoping the person there would go away.

“Keith? You in there?”

Keith’s eyes snapped open when he heard Lance’s voice through the door. He rolled out of bed, landing in a crouch on the floor. He wiped at his face just in case there was any drool or crust as he stood up and held on the one wall to steady himself. His head immediately started pounding and he put his hands on his head, looking around the door for someway to open it.

He noticed a button by the door that had some Atlantean written above it. _Press to open door._ Keith pressed it, wincing when the light from the hallway shown through the doorway, while also stopping his heart as it reveal Lance standing there.

“Uh,” Lance uttered, rubbing the back of his neck and holding up his other hand in greeting, “Hi.”

“Hello?” Keith said, squinting his eyes.

“Are you okay? You’re not looking too good,” Lance cocked his head.

“I just have a mild concussion. No big deal,” Keith shrugged.

“I dunno. Looks like a big deal to me. Here, I think I can help. Follow me,” Lance requested as he lead Keith to… wherever he was leading him. Keith wobbled a few times and Lance must’ve noticed because the next thing he knew, Lance was wrapping his arm around Keith’s torso and draping Keith's arm over his shoulders. Keith felt his face flush at the action, but the pain in his head snapped him out his thoughts as he leaned his weight on Lance.

Keith was thankful he had the pain in his head to distract him from freaking out internally at the contact between him and Lance.

They finally reached their destination when Lance slid his card over a blank spot in the wall. The doors slid open and Lance led himself and Keith inside. Keith looked around the room to gauge his surroundings.

There were several beds lined up against the wall to his right, with privacy screens and small water basins positioned between the beds. Past the beds was a wall with several cracks and holes, allowing the light to protrude through.

To his immediate left, there was a desk with papers and miscellaneous items strewn about. Behind the desk were shelves filled with various medical supplies and tubes filled with brightly colored liquid.

Further back in the room, there were a series of six pods positioned in a half circle. Between the pods and the desk was a door that probably let to a supply closet or something.

When the door slid closed behind them, Lance called out something in Atlantean. Keith guessed it was a name. After a few moments of no one replying, Lance scoffed.

“Figures,” he mumbled to himself and then led Keith to one of the beds. Keith glanced over at the pods and nodded in their direction.

“What are those?” Keith asked.

Lance looked down at Keith and then looked at where Keith was looking. “Oh, those are the healing pods. They’re known to heal any injury. We've only had a few cases where we had to use them. We try to use them as sparingly as possible, so we only use them in case of an emergency.”

Keith nodded in understanding, remembering the Princess talking about how the city was dying. He watched as Lance walked behind the desk and dig through some of the drawers from the desk. After a minute of searching, he produced a small hand towel, shaking it out just in case. He then walked over to a nearby water basin and filled it up with water.

As the basin started filling up with water, he took the crystal off his neck and dipped it into the water for a few seconds. After he took the crystal back out and placed it back around his neck, he dipped the towel in and let it soak for a moment.

He looked over to where Keith was standing and gestured with his head to the bed next to him. “Lie down.”

Keith did so and then looked over to see Lance wringing out the towel over the basin. Once it was damp enough for his liking, Lance folded it up and turned to stand next to Keith. He placed the folded towel over Keith’s forehead and Keith closed his eyes in pure ecstasy.

A cooling sensation spread across his forehead where the towel sat and seeped into his head. Pressure he didn’t realize he had behind his eyes slowly faded away and he slowly relaxed his clenched jaw. He let out a sigh of relief as he felt his entire body melt into the bed. After a few moments, the throbbing in his head faded away until it was gone completely.

“How do you feel?” Lance whispered softly.

Keith slowly opened his eyes, grateful that he was able to do so with no pain and looked over at Lance, who was sitting down on a small stool and staring down at him with a small smile on his face.

“That was amazing! How does it do that?” Keith asked, looking at the crystal hanging around his neck.

“These crystals have special powers,” Lance explained, picking up the crystal and examining it, “That’s all I can tell you really. We still don’t know much about them.”

Keith scoffed in amazement, threading his hand through his hair and sitting up. “I mean, I knew Atlantis was advanced, but this is like a whole ‘nother world!”

He gave the towel back to Lance, who then moved back to the basin to rise it out and then threw it into one of the bins nearby.

“What’s ‘Atlantis’?” Lance asked as he sat back down on the stool next to Keith’s bed.

“What do you mean ‘What’s Atlantis’?” Keith asked, perplexed, “That’s where we are right now.”

Lance looked at him with his brows furrowed in confusion. “No, we’re in Altea.”

“I’ve been studying this place my entire life,” Keith argued, starting to feel frustrated, “Every text I’ve read calls this place ‘Atlantis’.”

“Well, I’ve lived here my whole life,” Lance countered, crossing his arms over his chest, “I think I’d know what the place I grew up in is called.”

Keith opened his mouth to give Lance a retort, but then quickly closed it. He had a point.

“Alright, you got me there,” Keith grumbled unhappily, looking away from him.

He heard Lance laugh softly and muttered something in Atlantean… or rather Altean under his breath. Keith could’ve swore he heard Lance mention the word for ‘cute’.

“What was that?” Keith asked, feeling a light blush creep on his cheeks.

“Nothing,” Lance said a little too quickly. Keith noticed that the tips of Lance’s sharp ears turned pink. Lance coughed in his hand. “Let’s get you back to your room.”

Keith nodded and stood up, feeling better than he had in a long time. He walked with Lance in silence, trying not to get his hopes up at the probably harmless comment Lance just made. He probably meant something else or maybe Keith heard wrong. God, he wished he could understand Altean better.

When the two of them reached Keith’s room, Keith turned to say thank you and goodbye, but paused when he noticed that Lance was nervously looking at his feet. Lance sheepishly looked up at him.

“So, I actually came here to ask you something,” Lance said.

Keith felt his heart start to flutter, so he leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms over his chest, cocking an eyebrow to try and appear like he wasn't nervous. “Is that so?”

“Yeah, your friends asked me to give them a tour of the city and I wanted to ask if you also wanted to come.”

Keith looked over Lance’s shoulder and stared at a random point on the wall as he thought it over. Part of him wanted to sleep for ten more years.

But the other part of him wanted to spend more time with Lance and learn more about him. It wasn’t the first time he’s felt an attraction to someone, but there was something about Lance that told him that he had a chance. Lance was the first person Keith wanted to actively spend time with on his own accord. That rarely happened, especially this quick. Keith wasn’t one for love at first sight, but there was first for everything.

“Sure, when?” Keith answered.

Lance smiled brightly, causing his eyes to light up and Keith’s heart to palpitate. “Cool! We’re going once everyone’s done unpacking. I told them to meet me at the castle gates.”

“Alright, I’ll see you then.”

“Oka- whoa!” Lance exclaimed as he looked over Keith’s shoulder, his eyes gleaming with excitement, “Your cat! Can I see your cat?”

Keith's mind went blank as he stared love-struck at the pure joy in Lance's face. Good lord, this boy was going to be the death of him. Keith turned his head and saw that Red had moved stand on the top of the dresser in the room. She was looking at Lance with wide, curious eyes.

“Uh, yeah. Sure,” Keith complied. He stepped to the side to let Lance through. Lance carefully approached Red with his hand outstretched. “She doesn’t really like other people, so don’t be discouraged if…”

Keith’s sentence drifted off as he watched in shock as Red close her eyes and tilted her head to let Lance scratch behind her ears.

Keith’s mouth dropped.

Lance looked back at Keith with a smirk, “You were saying?”

Keith moved closer to the two of them and gaped as Red not only stayed near Lance, but let him pet her. He even started to hear her purring.

Keith reached over, picked up Red and moved her around to examine her.

“Are you sure you’re Red?” He asked her. She quietly mewed and looked back at him with wide eyes.

“Of course she’s red,” Lance said, looking at her, “What’d you think she was? Blue?”

Keith looked over at Lance, “What? No, her name is Red.”

Lance cocked an eyebrow, “You named your cat ‘Red’?”

Keith nodded his head causing Lance to bite his lip and look up at the ceiling with a smile on his face, “Holy Ancients," he whispered to himself.

“Are you making fun of me?” Keith asked, offended and slightly embarrassed.

“No,” Lance reassured him, stepping near him and putting an arm around his shoulders, “I think it’s adorable.”

Keith felt his face grow warm and he looked away from him.

“Alright, uh,” Lance coughed in embarrassment, “I’ll leave you to it,” Lance said, awkwardly patting Keith’s back and turned to leave the room. Keith looked back at him and noticed his ears and neck was a slight pink. He paused at the doorway and turned around to say, “Remember, once you’re done, met me and the others at the entrance.”

Keith gave him a thumbs up with his lips pressed together and Lance whipped back around to disappear into the hallway, the doors automatically closing behind him.

Once he was gone, Keith felt something foreign grow in his chest and he turned to Red to bury his face into her fur. “I am so fucked, Red.”

Keith looked around the room and took in the arrangement of the room since he wasn't able to earlier. There was a space carved out of the wall to his right for his bed. Lights were embedded in the ceiling that hung over the bed and a small shelf was further indented in the wall. Across the room from the bed sat a small desk. He could use that to go over the Journal in his downtime. In the back of the room sat the dresser where Lance, surprisingly, was able to pet Red. Another thing Keith wasn’t one for was fate, but what he just witnessed a moment ago made him think…

The rest of his room was bare except for his satchel that he discarded earlier before his nap and the suitcase sitting in the back of the room. So, he did have stuff that survived. Cool.

It wasn’t a lot, but it was still stuff he had to put away. As he went to put away his clothes in the dresser, he noticed that there were already some Altean clothing in the dresser. That’s neat.

Once he was done, he made sure that Red had some food and water and then left to join the others.

After a few minutes and only going down the wrong hall twice, he found them milling around the entrance and were talking amongst each other. Pidge noticed him first and lightly nudged Hunk, pulling him out of his conversation with Lance and Shay. He looked up at Keith and smiled at him, waving him over.

Keith looked around, mainly to keep from staring at Lance, and noticed that Shiro was missing.

“Is Shiro not coming?” Keith asked.

“No, he wished to remain here to work with the doctor. He appeared to be really excited about it,” Shay answered.

“He’s not going to be excited for long. Slav’s a real piece of work.” Lance chuckled and then clapped his hands together. “Now, who’s ready for the tour?”

“Let’s go already,” Pidge whined, “We waited long enough for Keith’s slow ass to get out here.”

“Wait, I left something in my room,” Keith said, laughing when Pidge let out the biggest groan, “I’m kidding, you little shit. Let’s go.”

With that, Lance led them through the different areas of the city. First, they passed an area filled with restaurants that served some... questionable cuisine. Hunk was especially curious about this area and stopped at each restaurant to ask about the food. Since they had no means of currency and Lance didn’t have enough to pay for all of them, they passed on eating, which Keith was incredibly thankful for.

The next area they checked out were the gardens, which Pidge wasn’t too excited about. Shay, on the other hand, seemed to be very interested in it. She would pull Hunk in different directions and point out anything that caught her interest, which seemed to be everything she saw. Hunk didn’t seem to mind at all, though. Every once in awhile, making sure it was okay with Lance first, she’d pick a flower and place it in Hunk’s hair. Even Pidge seemed to be enjoying it near the end.

After that, Lance showed them one of the giant statues that was half buried in the ground. It was surrounded by lush vegetation and plentiful vines attached themselves to the stone. He explained that thousands of years ago, these statues were the protectors of Altea and protected it from a terrible disaster long ago. The disaster was dubbed The Great Flood and Lance didn’t seem to want to talk too much about it, so they just let it be. Shay studied the stone the statues were carved out of but couldn’t determine what kind it was.

Lance then lead them down several streets to show them the different neighborhoods. The architecture here was like nothing any of them had ever seen before. Every house they passed looked similar, but each had various decorations and small gardens that gave the houses their own uniqueness. Each house was made with what looked to be the same material as the castle with glowing blue lights in various places.

The last place they visited was a giant market in the middle of the city. Lance seemed to be the most excited about this part of the tour. There seemed to be thousands of people milling around and shopping for various produce and clothing. Shay immediately pulled Hunk with her to look at some jewellery nearby. Before they disappeared in the crowd, Hunk gave an apologetic look in Keith’s direction. Keith stared at him in confusion as Pidge excused themselves to look at the tech some Alteans had set up nearby, leaving Keith and Lance alone.

“Well, is there anything in particular you want to look at?” Lance asked him.

Keith stared off in the distance and shrugged, suddenly feeling awkward.

“Well, we can just look around, then,” Lance said, wrapping his arm around Keith’s shoulders. He then leaned down and whispered in his ear, “Make sure you stay close. It’s easy to get separated here.”

Keith’s mind and heart was instantly overloaded at the action. They couldn’t be seen like this in public. If anyone saw them…

“Are you sure it’s okay to walk around like this?” Keith asked, gesturing to Lance’s arm.

“Why? Does it make you uncomfortable?” Lance asked.

Before, Keith would've answered ‘yes’. He was never comfortable with people touching him, only allowing Hunk and the others to be more physically affectionate with him only after getting to know them. Even then, however, it took a while. With, Lance, however, he found himself not only comfortable with it, but yearning it.

“No, it’s just… we’re two guys and people might get the wrong idea…” Keith trailed off.

Lance furrowed his brow in confusion, making Keith sigh.

“Two men being together like… _that_ , at least, back where we come from, is a bad thing,” Keith paused and watched realization dawn on Lance’s face, “like, _really_ bad.”

Lance nodded in understanding, “Well, it’s not like that here. Nobody here cares who you’re with. We understand here that gender doesn’t and shouldn’t matter when you truly love them.”

Keith felt all the breath leave him in relief. This place seemed like a dream come true. Lance looked down at Keith and smiled, “You feel better now?”

Keith nodded and walked with Lance around several of the stalls feeling lighter than ever. Today was turning out to be a great day. There were a bunch of different stalls that sold various miscellaneous items. Some of the things around the market Keith recognized, like sundials or cutlery, while there were others that he had no clue what they were or what they were supposed to do.

Whenever he had a question about something, which was basically every other thing he saw, he would ask Lance about it. Every time, Lance would happily explain whatever it was to him, never seeming to get annoyed by the constant questioning.

Someone shopping at one of the booths they were looking at recognized Lance and started a conversation with him. Keith put his hands in his pockets and rocked on his feet slightly as he awkwardly looked around, waiting until they finished. As he looked to the side, something in one of the nearby stalls caught Keith’s eye. He made his way over to it, accidentally leaving Lance behind in the process.

When he was close enough to do so, Keith picked up the dark, red fabric and marveled at the black and white swirls woven into it. In the middle of the silky wrap was a deep blue jewel the size of a quarter. The flecks of silver in the gem glittered in the sunlight.

He looked at the tag attached to it and felt his heart drop. _50,000 GAC_. He had no idea how many dollars a GAC equated to, but sounded like it was a lot. Even if it wasn’t, he didn’t have any regular dollars anyway. He stared down at it for a bit and then reluctantly set it down.

“There you are. Thought I lost ya,” Lance said, suddenly appearing behind him as he put his arm back around Keith’s shoulders. He squinted down at the booth. “Whatcha lookin’ at?”

Keith hesitated for a moment before speaking. “It’s nothing.”

Lance looked at Keith’s face and back to the item he was looking at and then looked back over at Keith.

“I think we’ve done enough for today. Want to get the others and head back?” Lance asked.

Keith shrugged, “Sure.”

They walked around the market until they found that a crowd had gathered around one of the stalls. Keith heard Pidge’s unmistakable shrieking and then exchanged a look of panic with Lance. The two of them quickly pushed through the crowd until they found them leaning over a booth and shouting with the vendor behind it.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Lance exclaimed, peeling himself off Keith and approaching them. “What’s going on here?”

“This asshole is trying to accuse me of stealing!” Pidge explained, their voice cracking slightly. They glared at the vendor who had his arms crossed.

“I saw you!” he defended, “I knew you filthy humans couldn’t be trusted.”

Murmurs spread through the crowd at the accusation. Lance seemed puzzled for a moment before he began to glare at the merchant. Without taking his eyes off him, Lance said, “Pidge, empty your pockets.”

“ _They are empty!_ ” Pidge yelled, “Do you not believe me?!”

“It’s you I believe, not him,” Lance explained with calm fury as he stepped closer to the vendor, who had the audacity to look shocked.

“I- I assure you, Lance, I saw-”

“I know exactly what you’re doing,” Lance interrupted. “You’re trying to come up with an excuse to get _the filthy humans_ kicked out.” Gasps and whispers spread through the crowd. “Now, unless you want me to bring this up to King Alfor…”

Lance didn’t have to finish before the vendor raised his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay. You don’t have to do that. I’m sorry.”

“Good. Now, don’t let it happen again,” Lance threatened as he grabbed Keith’s and then Pidge’s arm and pulled them away.

Once they were far away enough, Keith heard Pidge scoff. “Dude, that was badass.”

“It was nothing,” Lance said, a slight blush spreading across his cheeks. “Those kind of people piss me off.”

The three of them soon found Hunk and Shay, who thankfully didn’t run into any trouble, and they made their way back to the castle as Pidge regaled them of their run in with the vender.

“Wow, what an _asshole_ ,” Hunk said, causing Keith to blink in surprise. Hunk never cursed.

Pidge waved their hand in dismissal, “Eh, every place has them. There’s no escaping it.”

Keith scoffed. “You seem pretty calm about it now seeing as how you were a second away from beating his ass just a few minutes ago.”

“I’m not gonna waste my energy on that guy" Pidge giggled. "I feel bad for him anyway. Lance probably made him shit his pants,” Pidge sighed happily at the thought. “That’s an outcome I can live with.”

Pidge crossed their arms behind their head, proud that everyone laughed at their comment. The rest of the walk was filled with small talk as the sun slowly started to dip below the horizon.

“Man, I didn’t even notice how late it was,” Lance said when he finally noticed the sunset, “We better hurry up if we want to make it to dinner.”

Keith’s mind flashed to the restaurants from earlier and internally blanched. If the food they were going to be served tonight in the castle was anything like the food they saw earlier, then Keith was going to either be a very sick man or a very hungry man by the end of their trip.

They followed Lance to the dining hall where most of the crew members from the expedition were milling about.

“Good, looks like it’s not ready yet,” Lance said.

“Can I go back and watch them make the food?” Hunk asked excitedly.

Lance pondered the request for a moment and then shrugged, “Go for it, big guy. Just... don’t touch anything.”

Hunk punched the air and then beelined straight to the kitchens. As Keith watched him leave, his eyes landed on Shiro, who was staring blankly at his plate on the table. He looked like straight up death.

“You doing alright, Shiro?” Keith asked as he approached him.

Shiro slowly turned to him with dead eyes, “I can’t do that again.”

“Did you have fun with Slav?” Lance asked with an amusing glint in his eye as he moved to stand with Keith.

Shiro pointed a finger at Lance, “Don’t _ever_ say that name to me. _Ever_.”

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’,” Lance laughed.

Before Lance could continue to make fun of Shiro, the doors to the kitchens opened and the servants filtered out carrying plates of various foods. They all moved to the giant table to set down the large platters of food. Everyone in the room immediately took a seat and then dug in. Lance sat next to Keith and leaned over to whisper in his ear.

“This is my probably my favorite food of all time,” Lance said, pointing to a platter that was filled of something that was a dark green and looked to be a mix between a squid and a jellyfish. “I’ll have to warn you, though. It’s _really_ spicy.”

“That’s fine,” Keith reassured, taking two of them. “Us Koreans are famous for spicy shit.”

“What are ‘Koreans’?” Lance asked.

“Well, where we come from, there’s a country called Korea. People from Korea are called Koreans.”

“Oh, okay,” Lance nodded in understanding. “So, you’re from Korea?”

Keith ate a piece of one and flinched a bit as the spiciness hit him, but it was something he could live with.

“I’m not, but both my parents are,” Keith explained. Keith paused mid chew as images of what he could remember of his mother flashed in his head. He could feel warmth behind his eyelids as he tried to remember what his mom looked like until Lance’s elbow bumped his side.

“What do you think?” Lance asked, excitedly.

Keith blinked a few times at him before smiling. “It’s really fucking good,” he answered, taking a few more. Keith looked over and noticed Lance was staring at him with his chin resting on the palm of his hand.

“What?” Keith asked, feeling somewhat giddy.

Lance shook his head and looked back down at his plate. “Nothing.”

The rest of dinner was relatively peaceful other than Pidge trying to start a food fight, but Shiro thankfully shut that down immediately. Once everyone was done, the servants came out and collected the plates. One by one, everyone retired to their rooms until only a few stragglers were left behind.

Keith stood up and stretched as he yawned. “Well, I’m going to bed. I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

As he turned to leave amongst muttered goodbyes, he heard Lance suddenly stand up. He turned back to see Lance staring at him. The butterflies that all of a sudden blossomed in his stomach really needed to calm the fuck down.

“I’ll go with,” Lance stated. “I’m going that way anyway.”

Keith suppressed an excited smile and shrugged. “Okay, sure.”

Keith ignored the looks the others were giving him and the two of them walked silently together to their rooms. Once they reached Keith’s, they paused there for a moment awkwardly.

“Well,” Keith finally said after a long period of silence, “this is me.” He hoped it didn’t come off as awkward as he felt saying it.

Lance only hummed in agreement.

They stood there awkwardly, as if waiting for the other to say something or do something. God, why was this so difficult?

“I had a lot of fun today,” Keith finally said.

Lance smiled at him. “Me too.”

Keith looked down at his hands and then turned to his door, “Well, goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

With that, Keith entered his room and, without bothering to turn on the light, leaned back against the door. For a moment, he didn’t hear anything on the other side. He stayed like that until he heard Lance finally walk off and his footsteps faded.

Keith released the breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding and kicked off his shoes. He slid into bed and pulled the covers over his body, looking up at the ceiling. He recounted his day, all the looks he caught Lance giving him, every smile he managed to see, and how good it felt to be touched and cared for by Lance.

He turned on his side and closed his eyes, feeling Red cuddle up behind his back, and fell asleep with a smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These two poor, awkward babs:( But, like, me too:P
> 
> Don't forget to leave a kudo or a comment if you want to make a writer's day:)
> 
> Credits  
> Artist: Elidanus ([Tumblr](http://elidanus.tumblr.com/)/[Twitter](https://twitter.com/kdiffin2/))  
> Beta: Emmie ([Tumblr](http://moonlovingvampire.tumblr.com/)/[Ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonlovingvampire))  
> Me: Coco ([Tumblr](http://cocopbblez.tumblr.com/))
> 
> If you want to read any other stories from the Big Bang, go [Here](http://klancebb2017.tumblr.com/). There are tons of other stories there that deserve some lovin', too.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone had a Happy Holiday and I hope you all have a Happy New Year:) I'm gonna spend it watching 'Shape of Water' and avoiding New Year's Parties:P  
> Emmie hasn't had a chance to beta this chapter, but when she does, I'll update it. Enjoy in the meantime:)

Keith slowly regained consciousness and opened his eyes. He absently stared at the wall across from him, feeling Red’s warmth on his back. He sat up and swung himself around so he was sitting on the edge of his bed with his feet touching the ground. He rubbed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. This was a common occurrence for him. He’d actually be surprised if he managed to sleep through the night.

He absentmindedly stroked Red as she slept behind him while his mind drifted off to Lance. He had only met him yesterday, but apparently that was all Lance needed to turn Keith’s world upside down. Sure, Keith’s had a few crushed here and there, but they’ve never really had any sort of substance until now. No one’s been able to preoccupy his thoughts as much as Lance has. And it’s only been a day.

Keith’s mind kept replaying the looks and the gestures Lance had sent him. How Lance looked so excited whenever he was talking about something he truly cared about, his breathtaking blue eyes shining brighter than the crystal around his neck. Or how safe and warm he felt when Lance was holding onto him around the market. Or how Red immediately opened up to him when she did so only for him. If Red loved him, then he must be special.

A lot of moments made him question if Lance also had some sort of attraction to him. How he wanted Keith to join the tour even though they totally could’ve left without him. The way Lance winked at him after calling him pretty or when Lance called him adorable after Keith told him Red’s name. The way he caught Lance staring at him like he did in the cave or during dinner.

Keith shook his head. He probably went to invite Keith at the other’s insistence. Lance was probably staring at him like that because he’s never seen a human before and Keith was the first. The flirting was a little odd, but Lance was probably like that with other people. He definitely gives off a kind of flirty vibe. Doesn’t really explain why it became awkward after Lance called him adorable or when Lance walked him to Keith’s room. Doesn’t explain the blushes he caught Lance sporting during those times.

Keith felt that funny feeling in his chest again and growled, putting his head in his hands and gripping his hair. He felt Red come around him and climb into his lap.

He didn’t know that much about him. He could be like that with everyone. What if he was comfortable with Keith because Keith was the first one he met. What if the reason he was like this with Lance because Lance also was the first one Keith had met. He couldn’t stop thinking about ‘what if’.

Keith pressed the heels of his hands onto his eyes and fell back into bed with a loud groan. He sat there for a few moments and then forced himself out of bed to pad over to his dresser. He had to get his mind off this.

He opened the top drawer and rustled around and found his satchel. He pulled it out and then walked over to the desk that was provided and sat down. _Well, better make use of my time_ , he thought to himself as he pulled out the Journal and turned on the lamp to study it some more.

As he read through the Journal, he came across one passage he couldn’t make sense of. It seemed like it jumped to a different topic, almost like a page was missing. Keith lightly trailed his hand down a deep tear going down the page. It was an old book, so Keith was actually more surprised that there weren’t more pages missing. Keith just hoped there wasn’t anything important on it.

Before Keith could drift off again after a few hours of studying, he heard a knock on his door. His heart jumped at the prospect of it being Lance and hurried to open it. He was slightly disappointed to see Shiro standing there. He then mentally slapped himself.

“Hey, Shiro. What’s up?” Keith asked.

“I was just coming by to make sure you were up. Breakfast is going to be ready soon,” Shiro explained, “I also wanted to talk to you about something.”

Keith gulped. This didn’t sound good.

Keith nodded and let Shiro in, closing the door behind him. As Shiro passed him, he could smell that he’d just taken a shower. Keith slightly smirked amusedly to himself as he realized Shiro was still taking the time in the morning to work out.

Shiro sat on the edge of Keith’s bed and Keith sat at his desk chair across from him. Red sensed that someone other than Keith was near her and she quickly jumped off the bed and into Keith’s lap, falling back asleep.

“What did you want to talk about?” Keith asked, feeling his heart pick up speed.

“I just wanted to know if there was anything going on between you and Lance,” Shiro said carefully, “You guys seemed really close the other day. I saw the way you two were looking at each other the other night.”

Keith felt the blood drain from his face and he looked away from Shiro. Unbeknownst to Shiro, Keith was trying to answer that himself a few hours ago.

“I don’t know,” Keith said honestly.

Shiro nodded thoughtfully, “Well, I just wanted to tell you to be careful. You only met him yesterday and don’t know much about him. He seems like a good kid and means well, but you never know. I fully support any decision you make, but I don’t want you to do anything rash or do something you might regret.”

“Thanks, Shiro,” Keith said sincerely, “It means a lot to me.”

Shiro smiled, “No problem, Keith. What kind of father would I be if I didn’t look out for my kids?”

Keith laughed as Shiro stood up and stood in front of him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Seriously, though. If you ever need anything or want to talk, I’m always here for you.”

“I know. Thank you, Shiro,” Keith replied with a smile.

Keith stood up to join Shiro and together they walked to the dining hall. It was still relatively early, so they weren’t surprised to see that there were only a handful of people there when they entered. One of them being Lance who seemed to be in a very heated discussion with Hunk.

“-but I’m just saying, you could breed the horses and start a tiny horse business,” Keith heard Hunk defend.

“But think of all the time and money and work you’d have to put into taking care of them,” Lance countered as Keith took a seat across from them, “Now, if you had a horse-sized duck, then you could ride it places. You can fly through the air on a giant duck!”

Keith and Shiro looked at each other and shrugged. They weren’t gonna get involved in this. Keith was fully content to just spectate the discussion. He didn’t realize he’d been staring at Lance until Lance turned to look at him. Keith quickly looked down at his fingers.

“Keith,” Lance said, turning to him, “Which would you rather have: One horse-sized duck or one hundred duck-sized horses?”

Keith stifled a laugh, “What the fuck?”

“It’s very important,” Lance defended, giving Keith puppy dog eyes. Godammit.

“Uh, I guess a horse-sized duck,” Keith answered.

“Yes!” Lance exclaimed, making Keith’s heart do flips in his chest. Lance turned back to Hunk, “Ha! Two against one!”

“I don’t know,” Shiro added, rubbing his chin in contemplation, “Having a hundred duck-sized horses would be pretty cool.”

The conversation continued until breakfast was finally served. Since Lance wasn’t next to him to help him pick out what to eat, Keith just went with whatever looked safe, which wasn’t much.

Keith glanced up and saw that Lance was staring at him. Keith cocked his head in confusion and saw Lance pointedly look at a nearby dish repeatedly. It looked to be a sort of gray jelly that had different shapes floating inside it. Keith looked at it and pointed at it with his fork. Lance nodded and Keith dug out a piece of it and put it on his plate. He poked it and watched it jiggle.

He took a small bite of it and it felt like a bomb of sweetness exploded in his mouth. The saltiness of the various things in the jelly countered it and Keith looked up at Lance, who was looking at him with a hopeful look. Keith gave him a thumbs up and put the rest of it in his mouth.

Lance gave Keith a bright smile and then turned back to his food. The rest of breakfast continued with small conversations happening throughout, the horses and duck discussion heavily avoided.

Once Keith was finished, he excused himself and walked back to his room. Whenhe was almost to his room, he heard Lance call out behind him.

“Hey! Keith! Wait up!”

Keith turned and saw Lance quickly catching up to him.

“Do you want to do something later today?” Lance asked with a glint in his eye, the dazzling blue distracting Keith.

“What’d you have in mind?” Keith asked.

Lance smirked with a wink. “It’s a surprise. It’ll be fun. Trust me.”

Shiro’s words echoed in his head, ‘ _You only met him yesterday and don’t know much about him. He seems like a good kid and means well, but you never know_.’

“Why?” Keith asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Lance’s smiled disappeared and he just stared at Keith before smiling again, softer this time.

“Because I want to spend more time with you.”

“But why?” Keith asked again, “You just met me yesterday. You barely know me.”

“Because I want to get to know you more.”

Keith could only stare back at him as his heart stopped. Is this really happening? What does he mean by that? Does he really…

“Okay. When?”

Lance raised his arms up, “Whoo! I just need to work some things out before we go. I’ll come knocking when I’m done.”

“Sounds good,” Keith replied with a soft smile and watched as Lance turned to leave.

Keith entered his room and leaned against his door, willing his heart to slow down. He hurried to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was all over the place and his clothes were all dishevelled. He went back to his room and looked through his clothes. His heart sank when he saw he didn’t have enough to work with and he didn’t know how to wear the Altean clothes.

He needed to at least get out of the clothes we was wearing because they were no doubt smelly. He changed into more presentable clothes and threw his dirty one’s in the dirty clothes shoot next to his dresser. He went back to the bathroom and assessed his new outfit. He figured it was good enough and tried to calm the wild mess that was his hair.

Once he was pleased with it, he looked over at Red, who was staring at him with curiosity.

“Don’t give me that look,” he scolded, walking in front of her and kneeled down to her level, “It’s normal to want to look at least presentable to someone you like.”

Keith widened his eyes. Before he could panic at what he just said, he heard a knock on the door.

“Keith? It’s me. You ready to go?” he heard Lance ask.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, one sec,” Keith called back, praying Lance didn’t notice how squeaky his voice was.

He stood up, took a deep breath, and then opened the door to a smiling Lance. He had a bag with him filled with God knows what.

Lance let out a low whistle, “Lookin’ good.”

Keith blushed and looked away in mild embarrassment. He looked down at the bag Lance was carrying. “What’s that for?” Keith asked, changing the subject.

“These are just some things we’ll need,” Lance explained, “Now let’s go.”

Lance grabbed Keith’s wrist pulled him down the hall.

“Where are we going?” Keith asked with a small laugh and a big smile.

Lance only looked back at him and winked.

Once they were outside of the castle, they walked together with Keith trying to pry some information out of Lance. Anytime Keith tried to get him to tell him where they were going, Lance would just put a finger over his mouth with a small smirk. After about a half hour of walking they finally reached their destination and Keith looked up at the statue in confusion.

“You already showed us this on the tour you gave us,” Keith said.

“Yes, I did, but I didn’t show you the best part,” Lance looked up and down Keith’s body, “How well can you climb?”

“Climb? What does climbing have to do with…” Keith trailed off as he realized what they were about to do. Keith looked back up at the statue wearily. It was easily a hundred feet tall, but with was covered in cracks and vines that made it seem like it could be climbable.

“Figured it out now, did you?” Lance asked with a smirk, “I promise it’s much easier than it looks.” Lance turned to walk to the statue, turning back to look at Keith. “I mean, if you’re too scared...”

Keith looked back at Lance and glared at him. Without hesitating, he walked up to the statue with determination and started to climb. He had never been climbing before and had no idea what he was doing, but he was doing it. He got a pretty good distance up until he heard yell at him from below.

“You’re doing good, Keith!”

Keith looked down and saw that Lance started on his ascent. He was only a few feet below him, but it looked like Lance was hanging back to try and stay below Keith. He looked back up and continued. He could feel his hands start to become slippery with sweat, so he would pause and wipe them on his pants when they became troublesome. Whenever he would pause to look for a good foothold or handhold, Lance would yell up at him to advise him on what he should grab onto.

Once he was close to the top, he could feel his whole body tremble in exhortation. _You’re almost there. You can do it, Keith_. He reached up to grab onto a handhold, but it crumbled away causing his hand to slip. He called out in pain as he felt white hot stinging in the palm of his hand. He tightened the grip on his other hand to keep himself from falling, tensing every muscle in his body as he strained to keep himself up..

“Keith?” Lance yelled, sounding concerned, “You okay? What happened?”

Keith felt something warm drip down from his hand and looked down to see that he had thick, deep cut on his palm. He couldn’t do much about it right now and he didn’t want to worry Lance, so he just wiped it on his pants and continued his ascent. He had to hurry. He could feel his strength running out and if his muscles gave out, he would not be able to survive the fall.

“I’m fine!” he yelled back, wincing as his hand burned when he grabbed onto one of the vines. “Just slipped a bit.”

His body was screaming at him to stop, but he was so close. Just a few more feet. Keith gritted his teeth and pushed himself to keep going.

After what felt like ten years, Keith was finally able to pull himself up onto the statue’s head. He swung his legs over and rolled onto his back, lying there and closing his eyes, breathing hard.

He heard Lance’s grunts as he pulled himself up and then Keith heard scuffling as Lance hurried over to him.

“Keith, I saw blood on my way up. Are you sure you’re okay?” He then heard Lance gasp, “Keith! Your hand!”

Keith felt Lance pick up his hand and winced as pain shot through it. He opened his eyes to see Lance examining the cut and sat up.

“It’s fine,” Keith said, trying to peel his hand away from Lance who only tightened his grip on it, causing Keith to wince slightly.

“This is obviously not fine,” Lance said, his eyes becoming a searing hot, blue fire.

Lance scoffed angrily and took the bag off his shoulder, rummaging through it. He took out a white thermos and then stood to rip off a piece of the fabric wrapped around his waist. Once the fabric was off, he wet it with the water and then sat in front of Keith, holding his hand out.

“Why don’t you just use your crystal like last time?” Keith asked, holding his hand to his chest.

Lance scoffed as if it should be obvious, “I need to clean the wound. It won’t heal properly if I heal it like this.”

Keith stared at him for a moment and then reluctantly gave him his hand, watching as Lance gingerly wiped away the blood and dirt around the cut. Whenever Keith flinched in pain, Lance would stop and wait for the okay from Keith to continue.

Keith was surprised Lance was taking such care to be gentle with his hand considering how pissed he was… or probably still is. Keith tried to stop thinking about how Lance’s fight calloused hands felt rough on his smooth one and looked up at Lance’s face. Lance was completely focused on cleaning Keith’s hand.

Keith stared at Lance’s face, wondering how on earth God could create such a beautiful person, feeling like he could look at this sight for the rest of his life. Lance’s face was close enough that Keith could count each lash, each freckle that was softly dusted across his nose and cheekbones, only visible if you looked hard enough. He could make out the small scar on the bottom of Lance’s jaw. Keith loved the way the soft light from the crystal lit up his face, making the tattoos under the corners of his eyes look like they were glowing.

Once the cut was clean enough, Keith was snapped out of his trance as Lance took the crystal off his neck and held it against Keith’s palm. Keith watched in amazement as the cut slowly stitched itself back together. He would never get tired of seeing it.

Lance put the crystal back around his neck and looked up at Keith. “Feel better?” He asked. Keith tried to think of a coherent sentence, but was too preoccupied by how Lance was still lightly holding his hand.

Keith opened and closed his hand slowly and, feeling no pain whatsoever, nodded at him.

“Next time you hurt yourself doing something,” Lance said, the blue fire in his eyes reigniting, “Tell me about it. If you had fallen, I don’t know what I would’ve done. I was worried.”

Keith looked down at the stone as guilt spread through his mind. He felt Lance rub soft circle in Keith’s palms. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you worry.”

Lance hummed with approval and then clapped his hands. “Now, I don’t know about you, but climbing a giant statue and you almost dying is making me hungry.”

As Keith mourned the loss of the warmth from Lance’s hand, he felt his stomach growl as Lance pulled out several packages of wrapped food and gave some to Keith.

“I tried to pick out some stuff that you seemed to enjoy and added some stuff that I think you might like,” Lance said as he dug into his food.

As Keith started doing the same, he looked over and almost choked on his food at the view. He had been too distracted by the injury and Lance to notice how beautiful the city looked from here. From this height, he could look over all of Altea. As Keith gaped at the view, Lance scooted over to sit next to him.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Lance admired.

“Yes,” Keith said, trailing his eyes over the city until they landed on Lance, “it is.”

Keith stared at Lance, reveling at how soft and feather his hair looked and how it would feel if he ran his fingers through it. The slight curve of his nose as the tip of it turned upwards. His eyes continued down Lance's profile until he reached his lips. He unconsciously licked his own and then immediately looked away, continuing to eat his food until he heard Lance speak again.

“This is my favorite spot in this city,” Keith looked over at him and noticed the faraway look in his eye. “I come up here whenever I want to clear my head.”

A moment of silence passed before Lance continued, “I don’t see my family as much as I’d like ever since I started working in the castle,” Lance confided, “and, don’t get me wrong, I feel honored to work at King Alfor’s side, but I still miss my family sometimes. I miss swimming in the pools with my older brothers, my dad’s cooking, my mom’s hugs.”

Keith nodded in understanding as Lance’s eyes shined with unshed tears. He hated that he had no idea what to say. He wished he were more like Shiro. If Shiro were here, he’d know exactly what to say.

“My mom left my dad and I when I was really young,” Keith started, looking down at his hands, “I can barely even remember her. How she looks, her voice. I can’t recall any of it. My dad did his best to raise me by himself, but some days were harder than others.”

Keith felt Lance put a comforting hand on his shoulder and Keith could feel himself tearing up as well.

“Ever since, I’ve closed myself off from everyone else. I guess I was worried if I let anyone in, then they would leave me, too,” Keith looked up at the city, “Shiro and the others helped me crack out of the shell I hid myself in for so long. I will always be grateful for them for that. They’re like family to me.”

Lance slid his hand to Keith’s other shoulder and gently pulled Keith to him while rubbing comfortingly up and down his arm. Keith automatically tensed up and looked over at Lance, who smiled down at him.

“I get like that sometimes. Sometimes, I don’t feel worthy to be a warrior. That I’m only there by luck, which is technically true.” Keith wanted to ask Lance what he meant by that, but decided that was a conversation for another day. “More often than not, I feel like they’d be fine, maybe even better without me. Some days, I close myself off in my room and lay in bed, wondering what the point of anything is.”

Keith began to relax into Lance's hold as he laid his head on Lance’s shoulder and looked off over the city.

“Well, I can tell you one thing,” Keith said, feeling his face heat up with slight embarrassment at the cornyness of what he was about to say, “I’m glad I met you.”

Lance slid his hand in Keith’s and they held onto each other as they looked over the city in a comfortable silence.

They stayed like that until the last of the sunlight disappeared over the horizon. Lance was the first to get up, putting everything in his bag and then the two of them began their descent. Thankfully, the descent was infinitely easier than their ascent.

Lance dropped down first and waited for Keith to drop down after him. Before jumping, Keith looked down to see if he was a safe distance to do so. He saw Lance standing there with his arms outstretched, ready to catch him. Keith pushed off the wall, losing his balance a bit as he hit the ground. He stumbled backwards, his back hitting Lance’s chest as Lance grabbed Keith’s upper arms to steady him.

Keith looked back at Lance and then looked to the ground. “Thanks.”

“Anytime,” Lance whispered as he gently released Keith and dropping his hands to his side, the tips of his fingers brushing Keith’s arms as he did so.

They walked back to the castle together, staying close enough to touch shoulders and feel each other’s hands brush against one another. They mainly talked about what it’s like where Keith’s from until they reached the castle.

They happened to come in during the middle of dinner. Keith found where Shiro was sitting and was thankful that he had saved seats for the both of them. They sat down and Keith noticed the look Shiro was giving him.

“I’ll tell you later,” Keith mouthed at Shiro who gave him an approving nod and continued to eat.

Keith and Lance continued to do the same thing they did every meal where Lance would pick something out for Keith and Keith would try it while they participated in whatever conversation was happening at the moment. Most of the time, Keith would like it, but there were some things he didn’t like. When that happened, Lance would just take it and eat it for him.

Once Keith was full, he excused himself, not surprised in the slightest when Lance excused himself shortly after. Lance walked with him back to Keith’s room. The two of them stopped in front of it like they did last night and stood outside Keith’s door. Keith was about to thank Lance for taking him out today when Lance stepped close to him and hugged him.

“Thank you for today,” Lance whispered into his neck, “It means a lot to me.”

Keith brought his arms around Lance and hugged him back tightly in response. They stayed like that for a moment before pulling apart.

“See you tomorrow?” Keith asked.

“Do you really have to ask?” Lance answered with a warm smile. He waved back at Keith as he left for his own room.

Keith watched him walked back to his room, which was apparently the room next door. Before Lance entered his room, he turned around to look back at Keith. Keith sucked in a breath and fumbled with his card, panicking as it fell to the floor. He could feel his face turn beet red as he quickly picked it up and use it to open the door. As soon as the door slid open, he retreated into his room, hearing Lance’s laugh as he did so.

Keith pressed his back against the door as he breathed heavily against it. Laughter then bubbled up in him and he doubled over, pressing him arms into his stomach as he laughed. When the laughter subsided into scattered giggling, Keith changed out of his clothes and looked down at his hand. The memory of Lance’s hand gently holding it as he cleaned out the wound. He smiled to himself as he balled that hand into a fist and pressed it against his chest. He crawled into bed, letting himself imagine what could be between the two of them as sleep finally took over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact: At work, it became my thing to ask everyone which they'd prefer: one horse-sized duck or one hundred duck-sized horses (I would totally prefer one horse sized duck, btdubbs:P).
> 
> Don't forget to leave a kudo or a comment if you want to make a writer's day:)
> 
> Credits  
> Artist: Elidanus ([Tumblr](http://elidanus.tumblr.com/)/[Twitter](https://twitter.com/kdiffin2/))  
> Beta: Emmie ([Tumblr](http://moonlovingvampire.tumblr.com/)/[Ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonlovingvampire))  
> Me: Coco ([Tumblr](http://cocopbblez.tumblr.com/))
> 
> If you want to read any other stories from the Big Bang, go [Here](http://klancebb2017.tumblr.com/). There are tons of other stories there that deserve some lovin', too.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so lateD: I worked at 13 hour shift today and I'm deeeeeead. But I still made it;)  
> Emmie is still trying to find time to beta, but I hope you all enjoy in the meantime:)

Keith woke up to Red angrily mewing in his face.

“What, girl?” Keith grumbled, sitting up and rubbing his face, “What it is?”

Keith groggily sat up and watched as Red silently jumped off the bed and padded over to her food dish and sat down next to it. The bowl was empty and Keith’s heart skipped a beat.

“Fuck! I forgot to feed you!” he exclaimed, immediately waking up and rushing over to where he keeped her food. His heart fell when he saw that it was empty.

“Goddammit,” Keith whispered as he started to pace the room. How the fuck did he not realize he was out of food? He’d been too distracted by everything that he must’ve not noticed. Red was probably starving. When was the last time he fed her? Yesterday afternoon? Yesterday morning? Oh god, Red probably hated him.

Okay, he needed to calm down and start thinking clearly. He couldn’t wait until morning. He didn’t even know what time it was. He couldn’t remember the last time he fed her, so he’s got to figure out how to feed her right now.

He could always go find some. If he could get to where they keep the food, he could just go there and grab some. He could explain to the staff tomorrow why he had to. Hopefully they wouldn’t get too upset about it.

The only problem was that he didn’t know where to even start looking for it. He had a knack for getting turned around. It would take too long. Maybe he could ask Lance?

No, he couldn’t do that. It was probably really late and he was probably asleep. Keith continued to pace the room, scratching at the top of his head. He _really_ didn’t want to interrupt Lance’s sleep, but he couldn’t think of any other option.

Keith steeled his nerves and quietly snuck out of his room and tiptoed to Lance’s room, his heart pounding in his chest the whole time. He was glad his room was next door to Lance’s. Maybe it was on purpose? He hoped it was. His heart fluttered slightly at the prospect.

He lightly shook the thought out of his head. _Stay focused_ , he thought to himself as he reached Lance’s door. He hoped Lance wasn’t a heavy sleeper or the type to get pissy if woken up as he lightly knocked on his door. He waited for a moment, bouncing his leg in anticipation. After hearing nothing from inside, he knocked again.

He still didn’t hear anything, so he looked up at the ceiling and quickly spun around with his hands grabbing at his hair. _Lance, please, for the love of_ God _, wake the_ fuck _up_ , Keith thought to himself as he knocked again, louder this time and flinching as the sound of it echoed down the silent hall.

He finally heard some shuffling in the room and Keith internally jumped for joy.

“Lance, it’s me. I need your help,” he whispered loudly against the door. As he quickly looked left and right to make sure no one else was around, Lance’s door slid open and Lance appeared, looking slightly disheveled and groggily looking down at Keith.

“Well, this is a fine sight to wake up to,” Lance said, his voice thick from sleep.

Keith ignored how Lance’s voice made the unfamiliar feeling in his chest swell. Don’t make this any more weird than it has to be. “I need food for my cat,” Keith explained, refusing to break eye contact with Lance.

Lance cocked an eyebrow, “Is this really the time to be worrying about that?”

“I forgot to feed her yesterday and now she’s angry at me. I don’t remember the last time I fed her and she’s probably really hungry and really mad at me and-”

“Whoa,” Lance said, placing his hands on Keith’s shoulders, shutting him up. “Cool your jets, Keith.”

Lance looked up at the ceiling in thought, Keith being acutely aware that Lance kept his hands on Keith’s shoulders, and then looked back at Keith. “I think I know where we can get something. Follow me.”

Lance finally let go of Keith and began to tiptoe down the hall with Keith keeping very close. Keith was really glad he decided to risk waking up Lance.

Whenever they reached a corner, Lance would signal Keith to stop and would look down the next hallway to make sure the coast was clear. Keith had no idea why they were sneaking around like this. It wasn’t like they were doing anything bad, especially since Lance was with him.

Maybe he didn’t want to alert the guards and wake anyone up? Which ever the reason, Lance seemed to be having a blast and Keith couldn’t help but smile the whole way.

They finally made it to where Lance was leading them, quietly slipping in and shutting the door behind them. They sat there in the dark for a moment, Keith realizing Lance didn’t have his crystal, before Lance turned on the lights. The lights slowly brightened, illuminating the room which was a decent sized room that was filled with several rows of shelves and lined with an abundance of cabinets.

“Okay, I’ll check the cabinets and you check the shelves. We should have something here for _Red_.” Lance said, smirking when he said Red’s name.

Keith nodded and did as he was told, rummaging through several sacks and boxes while Lance riffled through each cabinet. They both stayed silent as they searched until Lance gasped in excitement.

“ _I found some!_ ” Lance whispered in hushed excitement.

Keith stopped what he was doing and walked up to Lance, who was excitedly pointing to a fairly big bag that he was holding with ‘ _Pet Food_ ’ written in Altean. Keith made the gesture to tell Lance to be quiet. Lance looked at him with wide eyes and then made the motion of zipping his mouth closed.

Keith’s heart made a tiny flip at the gesture and he gave Lance a thumbs up. Keith rejoined with Lance and took the bag of food from him as they exited the storage room. Keith and Lance tiptoed their way back to Keith’s room, still keeping an eye out for any of the guards or staff.

Keith opened his door as soon as they arrived and ushered a giggling Lance inside, quickly closing the door behind him. Keith turned on his light and turned to put the bag away.

“That was cool!” Lance exclaimed. “It was like we were secret spies or something. Maybe I should quit and become a spy.”

Lance then attempted to do a dodge roll, but noticed Red sitting in his way too late and accidentally slipped to avoid hitting her. He sprawled on his back and laid there as Red climbed up on his chest to looked down at him.

Lance reached up and petted the back of Red’s head while saying sweet nothings to her in Altean under his breath. Keith’s heart swelled at the sight of Lance’s soft face as he whispered to Red and Red leaning her head to give Lance more access.

Keith quickly looked away and walked to Red’s food bowl to fill it up. As soon as it was full, Red rushed over and quickly began to eat the food.

“Sorry, girly,” Keith whispered as he bent down to pet her as she ate. After a moment, he stood back up and rolled the bag closed.

“Thank you for this,” Keith said, as he put the bag away. After a moment when Lance didn’t respond, he looked back and noticed that Lance was asleep on his floor. Keith stared down at him for a moment while his mind went blank.

Lance was asleep on his floor. Lance was softly snoring on his floor. Oh my god.

As much as he wanted to just sit there and admire him, Keith knew he couldn’t just leave him there. He hesitated for a moment, feeling guilty that he was about to wake Lance up again before stepping towards him and crouching down by his head.

He was trying to tell himself to lift his hand hand shake him awake, but Keith couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead becoming lost in the softness of Lance’s face as his lips were slightly parted. His breathing soft and steady with small snores escaping between each breath.

Before Lance could wake up and catch Keith staring, Keith put his hand on his shoulder and lightly shook him.

“Lance,” Keith whispered, “You can’t sleep on my floor.”

Lance’s eyes slowly fluttered open and he squinted at Keith. “Mmm, waking up to your face twice in one night?” Lance mumbled as a yawn escaped him. “I could get used to this.”

“Come on, let’s get you to bed,” Keith whispered at he helped Lance get on his feet. Once he was upright, Lance immediately went deadweight on Keith as he slipped back into unconsciousness. There was no way he’ll be able to get Lance to his room.

Keith led Lance to his bed laid him down. Keith pulled his blanket over Lance and felt Lance lightly take his hand.

Keith looked at Lance, whose eyes were closed and he heard Lance mumble something in Altean. Keith blushed when he realized Lance just asked him to sleep with him. Red flags popped up in Keith’s mind as he mulled over the request. Keith decided that sleeping in the same bed with Lance was too much and reluctantly declined.

“Goodnight, Lance,” Keith said, pulling his hand out of Lance’s and turned off the lights. As he went over to his dresser to take the Journal out, he heard Lance start to snore softly again behind him. Keith’s heart skipped a beat at the sound, but it then seemed to start beating faster and faster as he was suddenly hyper aware of Lance sleeping in _his_ room in _his_ bed. _This was a mistake_ , he thought to himself.

Once he had the Journal, he sat at his desk and turned on the lamp as he tried to make sense of what was missing from the book. Maybe it provided some way to save the city. He had to remember to try and ask Lance about it.

Lance suddenly shifted in Keith’s bed, causing Keith’s heart to go crazy. Keith took a deep breath and tried to focus back on the book. He realized that after reading an entire page, he actually retained nothing from it, his mind elsewhere.

After a few hours of Keith trying to study only to be distracted whenever Lance made a noise, Keith gave up and shut the Journal. He laid his head on the desk and closed his eyes to try to get some sleep. Just before he was able to do so, he heard a knock on his door. Keith quickly shot up and hurried to the door and opened it to see Shiro standing there.

Before Shiro could say anything, Keith immediately shushed him and stepped out of his room, closing the door behind him.

“Keith, what’s wrong?” Shiro asked, concern laced in his voice. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s good,” Keith assured him, but Shiro didn’t look convinced.

“I heard some noise last night. Was that you?” Shiro asked, crossing his arms over his chest. “And what’s in your room that you don’t want me to see?”

Keith stared at Shiro, his mind going blank and then looked away. “Yeah, that was me, and… um...”

Becoming nervous that Shiro was going to get the wrong idea or become upset with Keith about Lance sleeping in his room, Keith bit the tip of his tongue. He rubbed the back of his neck anxiously and stared at the ground hard.

“Lance is… uh…” Keith took a deep breath. “He’s sleeping right now… in my bed.”

Keith looked up to see Shiro’s eyes go wide and Keith quickly raised his hands up. “But it’s not what you think!”

“Well, then do enlighten me as to why Lance is asleep in your room.”

Keith sighed and quickly summarized to Shiro what happened last night and Shiro stared at him with a neutral expression on his face as he did so. When Keith finished, Shiro closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose in contemplation.

“Are you sure that’s all that happened?” he finally asked, keeping his eyes closed.

Keith nodded. “Yeah. I promise.”

Shiro sighed. “I trust you, Keith. Just... be sure you know what you’re doing and stay focused on our mission. Today’s our last day if we can’t figure out how to help Altea.”

Keith’s eyes widened and his heart stopped as he remembered the deal King Alfor gave them that allowed them to stay. Keith felt his heart sink.

“I completely forgot,” Keith whispered. “We have to figure something out. I can’t leave. This is too important.”

“I know,” Shiro said somberly, “But I promise everything will work out.”

Keith glanced back to his room and the image of Lance asleep in his bed crossed his mind. “I hope so.”

“Well, it’s good to know that you and Lance are doing okay,” Shiro said with a wink.

“Shut up,” Keith mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

Shiro laughed lightly and ruffled Keith’s hair, “Alright, I’ll see you at breakfast?”

“Yeah,” Keith replied as Shiro left to get to the dining room.

Keith walked back inside his room and saw that Red had curled up into Lance’s chest and Lance was holding onto her as they both slept. Keith mentally saved the image in his head with a soft smile and leaned down to lightly shake Lance awake.

“Hey, Lance,” Keith whispered, “Breakfast will be ready soon.”

“No,” Lance grumbled in defiance and rolled over, “Smells like Keith.”

Keith laughed, “Come on. Don’t make me drag you out.”

With some more prodding from Keith, Lance sat up and raised his arms over his head and stretched.

“I haven’t slept that well in a looong time,” Lance said through a yawn.

“Well, it’s almost time to eat and I don’t know if there’s anything you need…” Keith asked, unsure.

Lance’s eyes popped opened and he shot out of bed. “My face!”

Keith quickly stepped back as Lance shot out of his bed and ran out of the room. _What in the hell?_

With his brow furrowed in confusion the whole time, Keith changed clothes and then stepped outside to run into Pidge.

Pidge stood there and stared at Keith for a moment before smirking impishly. “Long time no see, lover boy.”

Keith looked down at them in surprise. “Wh-what are you talking about?”

“I’ve seen what’s been going on between you and Lance. And especially after last night…” Pidge trailed off raising their eyebrows and looking over their glasses at him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I saw you and Lance going into your room last night,” Pidge said. “And then I saw him leaving your room a bit ago. He seemed to be in a hurry.”

“Oh my god,” Keith said exasperatedly, “ _Nothing happened._ Lance was helping me get food for Red and then he passed out.”

“Whatever you say, lover boy,” Pidge said running down the hallway.

“Stop calling me that!” Keith yelled, chasing after them.

They dashed into the dining hall and Pidge ran around the table to hide behind Hunk. Everyone in the room stopped to look at the spectacle.

“Hunk! Help! Keith’s trying to kill me!”

“Pidge,” Hunk sighed, “What’d you do this time?”

“Me?” Pidge gasped, stepping away from Hunk. “ _Keith_ was chasing _me_!”

“Probably for good reason.”

“I can’t believe this,” Pidge said, putting their hands on their hips. “Being attacked by two of your best friends. What is this?”

“Maybe if you weren’t a little shit most of the time,” Keith suggested, repressing a smile when Pidge stuck their tongue out at him.

“Alright, guys. Knock it off,” Shiro said before Pidge could give out a sarcastic retort.

Once everything quieted down and everyone got settled, the servants arrived to set out breakfast. Keith glanced over to the rooms, wondering where Lance was. He was worried that he may have made a mistake letting Lance sleep in his room. He didn’t even stop to think if Lance was okay with it. Maybe he was rethinking whatever was going on between the two of them and was trying to avoid him.

He looked back at his food, his mouth going dry and his his appetite waning. It wasn’t until Keith forced himself to begin eating when Lance sudden appeared and plopped down in the seat next to him.

“So, what’d I miss?” he asked, looking around excitedly.

“Keith almost killed Pidge,” Hunk said.

“Wait, what?” Lance looked at Keith with a panicked look on his face. “Seriously?”

“Yeah!” Pidge yelled, pointing their fork in Keith’s direction.

Lance looked between the two of them in slight confusion.

“May I ask why?” Lance asked cautiously.

Keith blanched and then glared at Pidge, who was giving him a shiteating grin.

“It was just Pidge being their annoying little self,” Keith mumbled, taking a forkful of food into his mouth.

“You arrived later than you usually do,” Shay thankfully said, grabbing some food off Hunk’s plate. “What were you doing?”

Lance rubbed the back of his neck and Keith noticed the tips of his ears were tinged pink.

“I was just picking something up,” he answered with the wave of his hand.

Keith raised an eyebrow at him and Lance just winked in response. The rest of the meal was uneventful until Shiro stood up to excuse himself.

“You’re leaving a little early,” Hunk pointed out, talking around something Shay fed him, “Got somewhere you need to be?”

A slight blush spread across Shiro’s face and he awkwardly coughed into his hand. “Not in particular. Well, I’ll see you all later.”

Shiro quickly made his exit and the rest of them looked at Hunk in confusion.

“What was that about?” Pidge asked.

“Well, Keith’s not the only one _spending some time_ with a resident of the castle.”

An awkward silence fell on the group as they all realized what Hunk said in front of Lance. Keith looked down at his plate as felt his face explode with heat from anger and embarrassment. His hand started shaking from how hard he was gripping his fork. He looked up from his plate and glared at Hunk, who shrunk under his gaze.

“Aaand that’s my cue to leave,” Pidge stated, quickly standing up and speeding out of the room.

“Oh, w- wait! Pidge, didn’t you need help with that project you were working on?” Hunk yelled after them nervously, dragging Shay off with him.

Keith and Lance sat there in silence, the air thick with awkward tension. Keith wished the floor would open up and swallow him whole.

After a moment, Keith finally spoke up. “I am so sorry about them.”

“I have seen how well Shiro and Princess Allura have been getting along,” Lance said. Keith was really hoping he didn’t catch Hunk’s slip up or that he decided not to bring it up.

“Shiro and the Princess?” Keith asked.

“Yeah, who would’ve guessed?”

“I didn’t even notice the two of them were spending time together,”

“I’ve seen them time to time just walking around the training yard… which reminds me,” Lance said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck, “I haven’t been keeping up with my training, so I actually have to do that today or I’ll get in trouble.”

“Oh,” Keith said as he deflated slightly. “Well, I guess it can’t be helped.”

“I mean, you could always join me,” Lance said, “If you’re up to it, of course.”

Keith perked up and smiled at Lance.

“Hell yeah!”

Lance smiled and stood up from the table. “Well, we don’t have all day. Let’s go.”

Keith nodded and rose from his seat to follow Lance out.

“Are you sure it’s okay for me to be with you here?” Keith asked as they got closer to the training room.

Lance waved Keith off with a smile. “Of course. I have the room booked until lunch anyway, so it’ll just be me. Well, me and you.”

Keith felt a lot better knowing that it would just be the two of them and nobody else. He didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of others.

They finally reached the training room, which was a giant room with giant robots standing deactivated on one side of the room. On the other side of the room, there were several racks filled with various weapons.

“Alright, we just need to do some warm up exercises first,” Lance said.

Keith nodded, used to doing this with Shiro. When Lance deemed they were warmed up enough, he walked to a nearby fridge and pulled out two bottles, throwing one to Keith. Keith deftly caught it and examined it before unscrewing the cap. When he realized it was just water, he gulped down almost half of it.

He set his bottle down next to Lance’s and then stood with him in the middle of the room. His hair stuck to his forehead and the back of his neck, bothering him. He bundled as much of it as he could into his hands and grabbed at hairband from his pocket. He stared at a spot on the ground as he tied his hair up. When he deemed it tight enough, he lowered his hands to his sides and looked up to see Lance staring at him with a dumbstruck look on his face.

“Uh, are you okay?” Keith asked with his brows furrowed.

Lance shook his head and looked away from Keith. “Yeah,” he squeaked, “fine. Just, uhh…” Lance’s face was tinged with red, “Nevermind.”

Keith’s face also started to burn as a slight blush formed on his face. A moment passed in awkward silence.

“Have you ever been in a fight before?” Lance asked, placing a hand on his hip.

“A few times in school,” Keith answered, thankful that the subject’s changed, “Mainly small brawls because I usually let my temper get the best of me.”

Lance shrugged, “Happens to the best of us.”

“Why do you ask?”

“Because,” Lance said, stepping close to Keith, “We’re going to do some old fashioned hand-to-hand combat. Then we’ll get to the fun part.”

Keith suddenly felt nervous. He didn’t want to look stupid in front of a bunch of random strangers, but he definitely didn’t want to look stupid in front of Lance. Lance is probably really good at fighting after training for it for God knows how long. Meanwhile, the only experience Keith’s had has been in a few schoolyard scraps during his middle and high school days.

Lance slowly raised up his fists and spread his feet, tensing his body so his stance was firm and unmoving. He waited for Keith to do the same. Keith tried his best to copy the stance Lance was holding, but felt like his stance wasn’t as firm as Lance’s. He felt like he was probably too loose.

“Ready?” Lance asked.

Keith nodded and before he could blink, Lance whipped around and hooked his foot behind Keith’s front ankle and kicked Keith’s leg up in the air. Unable to keep his balance, Keith fell on his ass, his back hitting the floor. Lance stood over him with his hands on his hips.

“I thought you said you knew how to fight.”

Keith sat up and rubbed the back of his head, “I said I’d been in a few fights.”

Lance reached down and offered his hand to Keith. “Here, let me help you up.”

Keith took Lance’s hand and hesitated a moment to smirk up at him. He then lifted his legs up. He caught a glimpse of the shock on Lance’s face as he pushed out as hard as he could with his legs and pulled Lance towards himself. He rolled backwards, causing Lance to flip over him and land on his back.

Keith rolled over to the side and stood over Lance, who was staring up at him in surprise.

“That wasn’t fair!” Lance yelled, pointing a finger at Keith.

“It’s your fault for letting your guard down,” Keith said, extending a hand down to Lance. Lance looked at Keith’s hand and then looked up at Keith.

“Don’t even think about it,” Keith warned.

Lance sighed and took Keith’s hand and allowed Keith to help him up. They spent the next hour sparring against each other and helping each other refine some moves, Lance teaching Keith more often than not. Keith turned out to be a pretty decent fighter, but he was self taught and tended to be a little reckless.

Eventually, what started off as Lance trying to show Keith a pining move turned into Lance straddling Keith and tickling his sides.

“Oh my god!” Keith weezed, trying to catch his breath. “Stop! I can’t breath!”

“Say the magic words,” Lance sang as he continued poking Keith’s sides with no mercy.

“Please!” Keith yelped, as tears fell down his face. He felt Lance ease off and opened his eyes to see Lance smiling down at him. Keith reached up to try to tickle Lance back, but Lance quickly grabbed Keith’s wrists and pinned them down on either side of Keith’s head. Keith looked up at Lance as he hovered over him.

Lance’s smile started falling as his eyes glanced down at Keith's mouth. Keith unconsciously licked his lips as Lance’s face slowly inched closer to his. Keith slowly closed his eyes in anticipation.

But then felt Lance get up off him.

“Alright, I think that’s enough of that for today,” Lance said, stretching a bit before taking another swig of water. Keith noticed that Lance’s hands were shaking.

“I think I’m all trained out for today,” Keith said, taking a seat against the wall, “I think I’ll just sit here and watch.”

“Works for me,” Lance said.

Lance walked to the weapon racks to take a bow and a quiver of arrows off it and then he walked to one of the inactive bots and messed with the settings. After a few moments, the lights in the bot blinked up as the robot activated.

While Lance was sparring against the robots, Keith sat there mesmerized at how gracefully Lance dodged the robot’s advances and immediately counter it’s move. As he watched Lance seemingly dance around the robot, Keith found himself drifting off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gah! So close:) Even I was like 'Wtf????'
> 
> Don't forget to leave a kudo or a comment if you want to make a writer's day:)
> 
> Credits  
> Artist: Elidanus ([Tumblr](http://elidanus.tumblr.com/)/[Twitter](https://twitter.com/kdiffin2/))  
> Beta: Emmie ([Tumblr](http://moonlovingvampire.tumblr.com/)/[Ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonlovingvampire))  
> Me: Coco ([Tumblr](http://cocopbblez.tumblr.com/))
> 
> If you want to read any other stories from the Big Bang, go [Here](http://klancebb2017.tumblr.com/). There are tons of other stories there that deserve some lovin', too.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost died last night after driving home from work in the snow:P But I survived and I know bring you chapter 10;D  
> This chapter is unbeta'd, but I hope you all still enjoy:)

Keith woke up to Lance gently shaking him.

“Keith, wake up.”

Keith slowly opened his eyes and struggled to focus in on Lance. He was knelt down in front of Keith, his tan skin was glistening with a fine sheen of sweat. Keith was fixated on a trickle of sweat what was falling from Lance’s hairline down the side of his face and then down to his chest.

Keith swallowed a lump that grew in this throat and quickly closed his eyes as he sat up to stretch his arms above his head. Once he felt a satisfying pop in his back, he dropped his arms in his lap and slumped over.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to doze off,” Keith mumbled, rubbing his eyes, “How long was I out?”

“It’s fine. You were out for about an hour.”

“Oh, that’s not too bad,” Keith said with a shrug, “Are you done training?”

“Yeah, it should be filling up with some new recruits soon, so we should probably head out in a little bit,”  Lance suggested as he stood up and offered a hand to Keith. Keith took his hand and felt Lance pulled him up to his feet. They stayed standing a few inches apart, they’re hands still connected, for a moment before Lance pulled away and walked off.

“Plus,” Lance added as he collected the water containers and towels they used, “I need a shower. I probably smell really gross right now.”

Keith leaned over and sniffed Lance and then exaggeratedly plugged his nose and made a noise of disgust. Lance chuckled and lightly pushed Keith.

“Oh, shut up.”

They walked back in a comfortable silence until they reached their rooms. 

“See you at lunch?” Keith asked, pausing outside his room and watched Lance stop at his room to turn to look back at him.

“Never miss it,” Lance winked and they each disappeared into their respective rooms. 

Keith took off his clothes and threw them off into a corner before stepping into the bathroom. He can worry about his clothes later. He turned on the water for the shower and, while he was waiting for it to warm up, he looked at himself in the mirror. He thought back to his conversation with Shiro and sighed, suddenly becoming weary. 

There had to be something he could do. Maybe Zarkon or Coran found something out during their stay here? He hasn’t seen either of them since arriving. That’s always been a thing with Coran, though. He had a knack for disappearing and reappearing randomly. But Zarkon hadn’t been seen at all either. Keith was glad, though. The less he saw of him, the better.

As the steam from the shower fogged his mirror, he stepped away from the sink and stepped into the shower. He closed his eyes and revelled at how good the hot water felt. He turned to face the faucet, letting the hot water run over his face. He felt the stress slowly leave him and then he started to wash himself.

Once he was content, he turned off the water and stepped out to dry himself off. He dressed into some clean clothes and sat down at his desk to stare at the Journal. Well, back to the stress inducing project after the stress relieving shower. 

He lightly traced the Altean symbol on the cover and then balled his hand into a fist. If only he had the missing page.

After tearing out about half his hair in frustration, Keith decided it was time to head to the dining hall. He closed the Journal and got up to put some food into Red’s bowl before heading out into the hall. 

As he passed Lance’s door, he heard some shuffling inside and decided to wait for Lance to emerge so they could walk to the dining hall together. 

Keith stayed there for a few minutes, feeling dumber the longer he stood there. Just before he decided to call it quits and continue on his way, Lance’s door opened. Lance stepped out and, not noticing Keith standing right there, looked to the direction of Keith’s door. Keith coughed behind him, catching his attention.

Lance quickly turned and looked surprised to see Keith.

“Hey there, buddy,” Lance said, a bright smile blooming on his face, “How long have you been waiting there?”

“Not long,” Keith answered with a shrug.

“Wasn’t expecting you to be here,” Lance said, his smile turning soft, “I’m glad.”

Keith chuckled awkwardly, “Yeah, whatever. Let’s just go.”

Together, they walked to the dining hall with Lance telling Keith about a weird dream he had that night. Something about a monkey wizard beating a bird-shaped rock with a leaf.  Keith found the confused look on Lance’s face as he explained his dream endearing. 

When they finally made it to the dining hall, Keith was surprised to see that lunch hadn’t started yet. They should’ve already been in the middle of lunch. Keith looked to Lance and saw that he looked equally as confused.

“What’s taking them so long?” Lance mumbled to himself, “Lunch should be ready by now.”

“And where’s Hunk?” Keith asked, noticing that he wasn’t there with Shay, who was talking with Pidge. He noticed Shiro wasn’t there either, but Keith was pretty sure he knew where he was.

They looked at each other and shrugged. Keith walked over to Pidge and Shay.

“Hey, guys,” Keith greeted, “Where’s Hunk?”

“He is with the cooks in the kitchen,” Shay explained, “He was told he is allowed to make today’s meal.”

“Really?” Lance asked looking perplexed.

“He said it took a lot of convincing, but they finally let him do it,” Shay said looking proud.

“Hunk makes the best shit, so I’m really excited,” Pidge added with a gleam in their eye.

At that moment, the kitchen doors opened and several of the servants came out with Hunk leading them.

“Lunch is served,” Hunk announced with a bow.

The servants filed passed Hunk and set the food down on the table as everyone sat down to dig in. Keith glanced over and saw that Lance was looking at the food with a weird look on his face.

“I don’t recognize any of these,” Lance said, looking at Keith.

“Well, Hunk’s the best cook I know,” Keith said, appreciating how Earth-y everything here looked. It made everything seem safer and normal. He grabbed a sandwich from a platter near him and put it on his plate.

Keith took a bite out of it and moaned in appreciation as several different flavors flooded his mouth, giving the sandwich an overall sweet taste with a hint of spice. Hunk was the best fucking cook in the world, even making alien food taste like home. 

He looked over at Lance and noticed he was staring at him slack jawed. 

“Well, you going to eat or not?” Keith asked, taking another bite of his sandwich.

Lance looked down at the food and then picked up the same sandwich Keith ate and examined it for a moment. Once he deemed it acceptable, he took a bite of it and then stared at it with wide eyes. He ate the rest of it quickly and grabbed a bunch of different food and stuffed his mouth with as much as he could.

“Wow, slow down,” Keith cautioned, clearing his throat a bit to do so, “I know Hunk’s food is amazing, but don’t choke on it.”

“Ichs jusht sho good,” Lance mumbled around the food in his mouth.

Keith rolled his eyes and continued to eat. When Keith felt himself become full he glanced to the side and saw Shiro finally arrive, but he wasn’t alone. 

Keith smirked as he watched Shiro talk with the Princess. Shiro bent down and kiss the Princess’s hand. The Princess ducked her head to the side and then curtsy at him before walking away. Shiro stared at her for several moments after and then walked to their table.

“Hey guys,” Shiro said, “What’d I miss?”

“Hunk finally got to cook for us and oh God am I glad,” Pidge said, slouching in their chair and patting their stomach.

“You all enjoyed it?” Hunk asked, looking nervous.

“Of course we all enjoyed it,” Shay said, placing her hand on his and kissing his cheek, “You are an amazing chef.”

Hunk blushed and twined his fingers with hers.

Keith found himself staring at their hands and then looked down at his and Lance’s hand. They were about an inch apart. It would be so easy to reach over and place his hand on top of Lance’s. He internally shook his head and he forced the thought out of his mind.

“Are you going to have any, Shiro?” Shay asked.

“No, I already ate. Thanks, though. I bet it was delicious,” Shiro declined, “Are you going to be cooking again tonight?”

“Probably considering how much everyone loved the food,” Hunk answered, looking down the table. 

Keith looked in the direction Hunk was looking and saw that most of the plates were empty. Keith coughed into his fist.

“Good job, Hunk,” Lance said, finishing off the last of his food.

“Well,” Hunk said, standing up, “I should head back and help clean up.”

Keith opened his mouth to say goodbye, but his eyes bulged in horror when he couldn’t get the words out. Keith thought maybe there was something in his throat and tried to cough, but he couldn’t take a breath in to do so. Keith quickly stood up and a panic, causing his chair to fall to the floor.

“Keith?” Lance asked in a panic, “Keith, what’s wrong?”

Keith fell to the floor and felt his eyes fill with tears and his lungs start to burn. He couldn’t breath. He had to breath. 

“Shiro? What’s wrong?” Keith heard Hunk yell.

“He’s having an allergic reaction!” Shiro yelled.

“But he said he didn’t have any allergies!” Hunk yelled.

“Maybe back home!” Pidge countered.

Their conversation started to fade out as Keith tried to focus on trying to breath. When he started convulsing, he felt himself get picked up and rushed out of the room. He latched onto the person’s shirt and tried with every fiber of his being to calm himself down and just  _ breath _ .

Soon, he felt himself being held up and suddenly felt a wave of cold wash over him. Keith fell in and out of consciousness, feeling his throat slowly open up. He could hear faint murmurs of conversation outside… wherever he was, but he didn’t have the energy to try to make out what the conversation was. 

As he faded back into unconsciousness, flashes of memories flooded his mind. 

Meeting Shiro for the first time and how it was the first time someone had looked at him like he was worth something since his father died. Staying with Pidge and how they comforted each other after they were attacked. The heart to heart he had with Hunk being the first time he told anyone about his feelings and being accepted with a warm smile.

Lance and him sitting on top of the statue together as they trusted each other enough to voice their insecurities to each other. Sitting close together and looking over the city. How warm Lance’s hand was in his and how right it felt.

He was suddenly snapped out of it when the barrier in front of him shined away and Keith fell forward. He thought he was going to hit the ground until he felt someone catch him.

“I got you, buddy,” Lance said softly into his ear.

Keith looked up and stared at Lance’s face as Lance placed his hands on either side of Keith’s cheeks. They stood close enough that Keith could feel his body instantly warm up. 

They stayed like that for a moment before Keith was suddenly picked up by Hunk and squeezed tightly.

“Keith!” Hunk yelled, his face wet with tears, “I’m so sorry! I didn’t know!”

“Hunk, please,” Keith wheezed, “You’re making it hard for me to breath… again.”

Hunk quickly let go. “Sorry, sorry. I just… you almost died because of me.”

“It’s okay,” Keith assured him, “You didn’t know. Hell, I didn’t know.”

“It is like I keep telling you,” Shay said, coming up behind Hunk, “It was not your fault. I am glad to see you are okay.”

Shay stepped aside Hunk and hugged Keith. Shay and Keith haven’t interacted as much as Keith interacted with the rest of them, but Keith still cared for her the same as the rest of them.

Once they separated, it was Pidge’s turn to give Keith a hug. “Don’t ever do that again,” Pidge warned as they pressed their face into Keith’s chest, their bottom lip trembling slightly.

Keith chuckled, rubbing circles in their back. “I’ll try my best.”

“You gave us quite the scare,” Shiro said as he took Pidge’s place and hugged Keith.

They stayed like that for a moment and then Keith pulled away to look at the rest of them. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lance make his way to his side and Keith felt him put a comforting hand on his back and rub small circles.

“Thank for being there for me, guys. It means a lot,” Keith said, “Sorry for scaring you all like that.”

“I wonder what you ate to give you a reaction like that,” Shiro said.

“I ate a lot of those sandwiches,” Keith said after pondering for a bit, “Maybe it was in that?”

“I’m gonna go back there and see what was in those sandwiches and see what it could’ve been,” Hunk said.

“I’ll go with,” Shiro said, leaving with Hunk.

Pidge looked between the two of them and nudged Shay. “I gotta go, too,” Pidge said, “Got something I’m working on. You should come help me.”

“How can I help?” Shay asked, “I do not know-”

“Oh, I’m sure there’s something you can help with.”

With that, Pidge dragged a confused Shay away, leaving Keith and Lance alone.

“Man,” Lance said, causing Keith to look at him, “You owe me, like, ten favors now.”

Keith looked down at the floor guiltily. “Sorry.”

“You’re the one who almost died, not me. I’m just glad you’re okay,” Lance said softly.

Lance looked off with a faraway look in his eye. “You really scared me, though. I saw you on the ground in pain and I just... froze. I didn’t know what to do. It was Shiro who picked you up and took you here.”

Keith turned to Lance and took his face into his hands, forcing Lance to look at him, “Hey, everything turned out, didn’t it?” Without thinking about it, Keith pulled Lance to him and pressed his forehead against Lance’s. “I’m okay.”

Keith felt slightly embarrassed about the action, but he couldn’t turn back. Lance wasn’t pulling away, though. That was a good sign.

They stayed like that for a bit until Keith broke the silence. “I wish I could stay longer.”

Lance shot up and put his hands on top of his head. “You leave tomorrow! I completely forgot!” Lance started pacing back and forth, “There’s gotta be something we can do. You can’t leave!”

Keith thought back to the Journal and got an idea. Maybe Lance can make sense of it, “I think the Journal could help, but there’s a page missing and it might be the key to all of this.”

Lance stopped pacing and gave Keith a curious look. “What Journal?”

“The Shepherd's Journal,” Keith said. Lance’s face didn’t change. “Have you never heard of the Shepherd’s Journal?”

Lance shook his head.

“Here. Come with me.”

Keith took Lance’s arm and lead him to his room. He noticed he left the Journal on his desk and picked it up and handed it to Lance. Lance skimmed through the pages and looked at Keith in surprise.

“You can read this?” Lance asked.

“Yeah, I’ve been studying Altean my whole life. Granted, I thought it was Atlantean, but…” Keith trailed off as he looked at Lance skimming through the pages as if…

“Wait, can you not read it?”

Lance looked up at him and shook his head.

“How are you not able to read this?” Keith asked, “This is your language.”

“Ever since the Great Flood,” Lance said somberly, “the ability to read our language slowly faded away until there was nothing left.”

“That’s unbelievable,” Keith whispered. “But when we were looking for food for Red, how did you know that it was pet food if you couldn’t read it?”

“I fed it to my pet klaishnap. I figured Red would be similar enough to be able to eat it, too. Plus, there were pictures of pets on it.”

“How is it that an entire civilization lost the ability to read their own language?”

“I was much too young to remember everything that happened,” Lance said. He looked off past Keith as he tried to remember all he could. “I just remember running with my family and then a bright shining light in the sky-”

“Wait,” Keith interrupted, “You were there?”

Lance looked at him and nodded.

“But how? That happened, like, 10,000 years ago.”

Lance looked at him like none of this was news to him. “Yeah, sounds about right.”

“That would make you 10,000 years old.”

Lance smiled and nodded at him. “Give or take. I lost count after 200.”

Keith paused for a moment. “Wow, and I thought Shiro was old.”

Lance scrunched up his face and playfully pushed Keith. Lance shook his head and then grabbed Keith’s shoulders.

“Enough about me,” Lance exclaimed, “You can read it!”

Keith nodded.

“Come with me. I need to show you something,” Lance said, grabbing Keith’s hand and leading him out of the castle. As they left the castle, Lance took him to around it and was heading for the forest.

“Where are you taking me?” Keith asked.

“Something that will hopefully answer all our questions.”

Lance lead him into the forest and he weaved the two of them through the trees until they reached the gardens they visited during their tour. Lance continued through that to an area covered in shrubbery, vines, and other various types of vegetation. 

Lance took them down a path lush with plants, pushing them out of the way until they finally reached a small clearing. Keith and Lance stood at the edge of a pool of water that seemed to go deep underground.

“Can you swim?” Lance asked.

“Of course I can swim.”

“Good.” Lance replied as  he untied the wrap around his waist and dropped it to the ground , revealing a pair of tight, thin shorts underneath. Keith stood there in awe as he couldn’t help but admire him.

“Enjoying the view?” Lance asked, snapping Keith out of his thoughts.

Keith started to strip as well, slightly self consciously as he felt Lance’s eyes on him. When he was down to his boxers, he stood with Lance at the edge of the water. Lance stepped in first and waded through the water. When he was about waist deep in the water, he turned back to Keith, winked, and then dived.

Keith took a deep breath and stepped into the water, expecting it to be cold, but was pleasantly surprised when it was actually very warm. Once he was about waist-deep, he took a deep breath and dived in after Lance.

Because of the darkness, he had some trouble finding Lance, but then spotted the soft glow of Lance’s crystal a bit a ways ahead and raced to catch up with him. When he felt his breath start to run out, he saw Lance start to swim up and they quickly broke through the water. They let go of the breath they were holding and panted while treading the water.

“You doing okay?” Lance asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just… just give me a moment,” Keith said, still trying to catch his breath. The soft glow from the crystal was illuminating off the water casting waves of light blue light on Lance’s face. Keith found himself struggling to breath and it wasn’t because of the swimming.

“You good to keep going?”

Keith nodded.

“Alright, let’s go. There’s more to see. Let me know when you need to take a breath,” Lance said before taking a deep breath and disappearing back under the water. Keith follow ensuite and swam with him. 

After a moment, Lance swam up to a wall that, Keith noticed as he swam closer to it, had drawings and writing carved and painted on it. Lance pointed to it and Keith swam closer to decipher what it was saying. Lance used the light from his crystal to illuminate the writing, making it easier for Keith to read.

Once Keith felt like he need to catch his breath, he gestured to Lance to head back the air pocket. Once they reached the surface again, Keith ran a hand through his hair and tried to process what he just read.

“Wow! This is amazing!” Keith exclaimed, looking at Lance excitedly, “The crystals are a power source. They power everything in the city. They’re healing property is only the beginning. They’re the reason you were able to live for 10,000 years. This is revolutionary!”

“But how does this help my city?” Lance asked, “Why is our city dying?”

“I don’t know,” Keith answered, turning to Lance with a giddy smile on his face, “But I know how we can find out.”

Keith dived back in and swam with Lance back to the murals. They continued on this cycle several more times until Keith finished deciphering the rest of it. When they entered the air pocket again, Keith reached out and grabbed Lance’s shoulders in excitement.

“I know how we can save Atlea!” Keith exclaimed.

“How?” Lance asked, lightly grabbing Keith’s wrists.

“There are these giant crystals that were activated during the Great Flood, but were damaged in the process. If they can be activated, they should revive your city.”

“But, how do we activate them?”

Keith stopped and thought about it. “Well, it was saying how only someone of noble heart can unlock the power of the crystals.”

Lance’s grip on Keith’s wrists tightened, “So, if we find this person…”

“We can save Altea!”

Both Keith and Lance yelled in excitement and hugged one another. They stayed in that embrace for a moment before slowly pulling away. 

Keith stared into Lance’s eyes, which were currently a deep blue and shining with the light from his crystal and from the excitement of the discovery. Keith felt his heart start to pound in his chest.

Keith’s eyes trailed down and he realized he was close enough to count every single freckle was was dotted across Lance’s nose. 

He then looked down at Lance’s mouth and then felt Lance slowly push a stray hair away from Keith’s face, causing Keith to look back up to his eyes. A warm feeling blossomed in Keith’s chest.

Lance’s hand paused on the side of Keith’s head and he softly rubbed Keith’s cheekbone with his thumb. They stared at each other as Keith placed his hand over Lance’s.

Lance slightly tilted his head and  slowly leaned in to softly press his lips against Keith’s own. Keith felt his heart explode in this chest.  _ This is happening. This is really happening. _

_ _

He slowly melted into the kiss, closing his eyes when Lance gently caressed Keith’s cheek with his hand . Keith slowly wrapped his arms around Lance’s neck and pulled him closer as their legs intertwined. Lance put his free hand on Keith’s waist and used his other hand to angle Keith’s face to deepen the kiss. 

Since Keith had no idea what he was doing, he let Lance take the lead as the kiss starting gaining speed and heat.

They pulled away from each other when Keith felt himself needing to breath. 

Keith slowly opened his eyes to see Lance smiling at him. Keith face broke into a smile and he quickly leaned back in to kiss Lance again. He was a little too eager, however, and accidentally clicked his teeth against Lance’s.

“Ow,” Lance yelped as he quickly pulled away with a wince and rubbed his mouth.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to-,” Keith was cut off by Lance laughing and placing his forehead against Keith’s.

“Gods, you don’t know how long I’ve waited to do that,” Lance whispered. Keith smiled and closed his eyes as they both leaned forward to kiss again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally!! Ahh!! If you've seen the movie, you know what's about to happen;)
> 
> Don't forget to leave a kudo or a comment if you want to make a writer's day:)
> 
> Credits  
> Artist: Elidanus ([Tumblr](http://elidanus.tumblr.com/)/[Twitter](https://twitter.com/kdiffin2/))  
> Beta: Emmie ([Tumblr](http://moonlovingvampire.tumblr.com/)/[Ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonlovingvampire))  
> Me: Coco ([Tumblr](http://cocopbblez.tumblr.com/))
> 
> If you want to read any other stories from the Big Bang, go [Here](http://klancebb2017.tumblr.com/). There are tons of other stories there that deserve some lovin', too.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, the snow up here has been utter HELL trying to get through. Been busy dealing with that and a new workplace, so things have been pretty crazy recently, but I present you the next chapter:)  
> Emmie is busy with a lot of stuff, so it won't be beta'd. Once that's changed, then I'll update the story. Hope you all enjoy in the meantime:)))

Keith and Lance finally emerged out of the water and trudged over to where their clothes lay.

As Keith dried himself with his clothes and put them on, he noticed Lance fiddling with something in his hand.

“What’s that?” Keith asked, moving to stand in front of Lance.

Lance laughed awkwardly. “I saw you looking at this the other day and I thought you might appreciate it.”

Keith looked at him in confusion. He had no idea what Lance was talking about.

“Close your eyes,” Lance said softly.

Keith did as he was told and felt Lance pick up his wrist. Lance wrapped something around his wrist and secured tightly. Lance’s warm hands stilled.

“Can I look now?” Keith asked after a moment.

He was met with silence and then heard Lance laugh. “Sorry, I nodded. Yes, you can look.”

Keith opened his eyes and looked down at his wrist and lightly gasped.

Wrapped around his wrist was the red wrap with the blue jewel he was looking at in the market. He lightly grazed his fingers over the jewel and then looked up at Lance.

“I also noticed that they came in a pair,” Lance said, pulling a matching one out, but this one had a blue wrap and a red jewel. Lance handed the wrap to Keith and held his wrist out.

Keith nodded in understanding and then carefully wrapped it around Lance’s wrist, his hand shaking slightly as he did so.

Once he tied it off, he threaded his fingers into Lance’s and stepped close to him.

“Thank you,” Keith whispered and leaned up to lightly kiss him. Lance lightly laughed against Keith’s mouth and he angled his head to deepen the kiss.

“Now, isn’t that sweet.” A raspy voice suddenly said from behind them, causing them to pull away from each other.

Keith quickly turned to the voice and noticed that Zarkon was standing there with Haggar and a handful of the crew members with guns trained on them.

Before either of them could say anything, several people came up to them from behind and grabbed Keith’s and Lance’s arms.

Keith’s instincts kicked in and he immediately elbowed the person behind him, feeling something crack. As he heard the woman yell in pain, he swung his leg around to put momentum behind the kick. The woman had bent over to hold her chest, so Keith wound up kicking her in the head. She crumpled to ground, unconscious.

Another person tried to grab Keith’s arm, but Keith grabbed it in time and twisted it around until it was behind the man’s back. He jammed the arm up until he heard a pop. As the man cried out, Keith shoved him to the ground.

He looked over and noticed that Lance was struggling to hold his own against three people at once.

“Lance!” Keith yelled and hurried to where he was.

Lance looked over when Keith yelled his name just as one of the men Lance was fighting used the distraction to grab the top of Lance’s hair. Lance yelped in pain as the man pulled Lance towards him.

Just as Keith was about to reach for the man holding Lance, two people grabbed Keith’s arms and pulled him back. One of them kicked the back of his knees, causing him to fall to his knees.

As Keith struggled to get out of their grip to get to Lance, one of them kneed him in the face, knocking his glasses off his face and causing him to see stars.

“Keith!” he heard Lance shout. Keith slowly looked up and struggled to see straight. He saw a blurry shape that resembled Lance running to him.

Before he could make it, a gunshot ripped through the air.

Lance immediately froze, staring down between his feet at the spot where the bullet landed.

Keith tensed up and looked at Zarkon, who had a revolver trained on Lance. Keith watched in horror as Lance slowly raised his arms in the air.

“Now, there’s a good boy,” Zarkon said. He made a motion to his men and two of them rushed Lance and roughly brought him down to his knees as the others did to Keith.

“I want what I came here for,” Zarkon said, moving to stand in front of the two of them, “Your so-called King hasn’t given me anything.” Zarkon looked down at Keith and gave him a smirk. “But I think you can help with that.”

Keith watched as Zarkon reached into the inside of his jacket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He crouched down in front of Keith and picked up his glasses. He placed the glasses back on his face and held the paper in front of him.

Keith gasped. It was the missing page from the Journal.

“How did you get that?” Keith growled.

Zarkon laughed, grabbing the hair on top of Keith’s hand and forcing his head back. Keith winced and held back a grunt.

Out of his peripheral, Keith saw Lance start to struggle at the action. Zarkon aimed the revolver back at him, causing him to stop.

“If you hurt him, I fucking swear…” Lance threatened, venom laced deep in his voice.

“Oh, don’t worry,” Haggar cooed sardonically, “We have use of him yet.”

“Now,” Zarkon continued, “I don’t have to be able to read this to know that people would pay millions for this,” Zarkon explained, letting go of Keith’s hair with a shove.

Keith glared at him as he stood back up and crossed his arms over his chest. “So, what I want to know is where it is.”

Keith didn’t answer him. He’d rather die than give Zarkon the location to the crystal.

Keith just continued to stare up at him in anger, earning an amused huff from Zarkon.

“Well, if you won’t speak,” Zarkon stepped to the side and stood in front of Lance. He nodded at the men holding him. They nodded back and let him go. As soon as they did so, Zarkon grabbed the hair on top his his head and threw him to the side.

Lance let out a pained shout as he landed in front of Keith.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Keith growled through clenched teeth at Zarkon.

As Lance wobbly pushed himself onto his hands and knees, Zarkon swiftly buried the toe of his boot into Lance’s stomach.

Lance yelled out in pain as he fell to his side and curled in on himself. Keith saw red as he struggled to get out of the crew’s grip.

“You motherfucker! Leave him alone!” Keith screamed as Zarkon kicked him again in the same spot.

“Does that mean you’re ready to talk?” Zarkon asked, towering over Lance.

He picked Lance’s head up by his hair and punched him in the face, knocking him back down again.

Keith’s heart fell when he heard Lance groan.

Keith looked between him and Lance, conflicted.

He couldn’t give Zarkon the crystals. They were the Alteans main power source. Those crystals are the reason Altea was able to survive for 10,000 years.

If Keith allowed Zarkon to take that away, then Altea and it’s people will die.

But if he didn’t give Zarkon what he wants, then he could kill Lance. He shouldn’t put Lance’s above everyone else’s life in Altea.

Keith glanced down as Lance coughed wetly.

He can’t do this.

“Okay, okay!” Keith pleaded, “I’ll tell you! Just, please...”

Lance looked up at Keith and mouthed, “No.”

“I’m sorry, Lance,” Keith whispered, “I can’t lose you.”

“That’s more like it,” Zarkon said with a smirk. He sent a hand signal to the two men who were holding Lance a moment ago. The two of them grabbed Lance and pulled him back onto his knees.

Keith looked at him and saw some swelling on his cheekbone from when Zarkon punched him.

“Now, where are the crystals?” Zarkon growled, “And if you lie…”

Haggar walked over to stand behind Lance and pointed her revolver at the back of Lance’s head.

“What the fuck!? I said I’ll cooperate!” Keith shouted.

“It’s just some added precaution,” Haggar said, pressing the barrel of her gun against the back of Lance’s head.

“Now, tell me where it is!” Zarkon yelled.

Keith stared at Lance’s slumped form and his mind went blank.

_Come on. You can do this._

Keith thought back to what he deciphered in the underwater cave, but he couldn’t focus. Lance’s groans weren’t helping to clear his head.

“He won’t ask again,” Haggar threatened, pulling back the hammer of the gun with her thumb.

“I’m thinking! I’m thinking. Just… just give me a second,” Keith pleaded, closing his eyes, “I remember something about the eyes of the throne. I think it was something about how the path to the crystal can be seen through the eyes of the throne.”

Zarkon cocked an eye at him. He then stood up and regarded the crew members. “It seems the King was lying. Let’s go see if we can’t get him to tell the truth. Move out!”

The crew members holding Keith and Lance roughly picked them up and dragged them to the castle. Keith looked over at Lance who was still hanging his head weakly.

“Lance, are you okay?” Keith asked.

Lance didn’t answer.

“Lance, please. Answer me.”

“You shouldn’t’ve told him,” Lance finally answered weakly. “My life means nothing compared to my home. My people.”

“I couldn’t just sit there and watch him torture you,” Keith defended. “I care about you too much.”

Lance laughed weakly, “Yeah, I guess I’d do the same thing if I was in your place.”

“Be quiet!” Haggar snapped, “I will not have the two of you conspiring.”

The rest of the walk was silent as they made their way to the castle. In order to stay out of the public eye, they travelled through the forest, staying on the path Keith and Lance took.

 _Dammit_ , Keith thought to himself, _They followed us. How could we have been so careless?_

When they finally reached the castle, they headed straight to the throne room.

“Hey, what’s going on here?” Shiro asked as they entered the dining hall.

Keith immediately snapped his head up and looked over at Shiro. He had never been so happy to see him in his life.

“Are we doing this now? Like this?” Shiro asked and Keith felt his heart drop.

“No, Shiro,” Keith said, betrayal sinking his heart, “Please tell me you’re not a part of this.”

Shiro looked back and forth between Keith and Zarkon looking conflicted. “Yeah, but it wasn’t supposed to go down like this. Zarkon, what are you doing?”

“We cannot afford to wait any longer,” Haggar answered, “We must acquire the crystal. Any means necessary.”

Haggar stared daggers at Lance.

“Shiro, everything okay?” Hunk yelled before entering the room. Hunk looked around the room in surprise before his eyes landed on Keith and Lance, “Oh, man. I’m gonna go get the others.”

As Hunk left the room, Keith felt hot tears prick his eyes. “You bastards. I trusted you!”

“Keith please believe me,” Shiro said, placing a hand on his heart, “It was not supposed to go down this way.”

“Stop!” Keith yelled hearing his voice crack as he felt tears run down his face, “Don’t say another word!”

Shiro looked as if Keith had slapped him. Keith down at the floor as he felt Lance staring at him.

“Now, shall we continue?” Zarkon said lazily as he continued on his way.

Keith felt Lance lightly wrap his finger around Keith’s pinky, making the tears fall faster.

He thought Shiro and the others were his friends, his family. He trusted them and they betrayed him. It’s just like his mom all over again.

Keith heard a loud hiss nearby and looked up at Red in horror.

“Red!” Keith gasped.

Zarkon looked down at the cat and picked her up by the scruff of her neck. He held her up to his face to examine her, giving Red the chance to scratch his face with her claws.

Zarkon cried out in pain and threw Red to the side.

Keith could do nothing but watch in horror as Red sailed through the air and hit the back of the chair, flipping over it and landing on the seat, out of Keith’s view.

“No!” Keith screamed, squirming in the hold he was in. “You mother _fucker_ ! How dare you you _fucking_ son of a _bitch_!”

“Be quiet,” Haggar snapped, “Or you and your _friend_ will be next.”

Keith shut his mouth and looked over to where Red landed.

The only thing telling him that she was alive was the soft crying and labored breathing coming from the seat.

When they reached the throne room, the door was closed. So, Zarkon raised his leg up and kicked the door open.

King Alfor was sitting on the throne and talking to the Princess when they barged in. The Princess quickly whipped around and gasped as they marched into the room.

“What is the meaning of this?” The Princess asked sharply with a dangerous look on her face.

“I’m just here to claim what I came here for,” Zarkon looked from the Princess to the King and a smirk slowly spread on his face, “And it seems you’ve been keeping something from me.”

King Alfor squinted his eyes at Zarkon. “I have told you all that you deserve to know,” the King explained.

“And you have told us nothing,” Haggar snapped.

“Then that is all you deserve to know.”

Zarkon growled and then marched up the steps to the King. Before anyone could do anything, Zarkon backhanded him hard enough to knock him off the throne.

“Father!”the Princess yelled, turning to Zarkon, “You _monster_!”

She rushed at Zarkon, who easily dodged her. When she stumbled passed him, he grabbed her upper arm and threw her to the ground.

“Allura!” Keith heard Shiro yell as entered the room and ran up to her. Before he could reach her, she sat up and waved him off.

“I’ll be fine, Shiro,” she responded, taking the hand he offered her to stand up. Shiro gently held her face in his hands and examined her.

Zarkon rolled his eyes and waved over two of the crew members, who quickly grabbed the Princess to restrain her.

“Whoa, whoa. There’s no need for this,” Shiro said, pushing the crew members away. They then pointed their guns at the two of them.

“You dare defy my orders?” Zarkon questioned menacingly.

“If this is how you lead, then we don’t want any part of this,” Pidge said, entering the room with Hunk and Shay.

“Yeah, this was not a part of the job description!” Hunk yelled. “We were just supposed to get the crystals and get out. _Not_ beat up and torture people.”

“You have to break some eggs to make an omelette,” Haggar said, earning faces of disgust from the others.

“But this is wrong!” Shay pleaded, hiding behind Hunk.

“Please, Zarkon,” Keith begged, “You have to listen to me. These crystals, they’re the only thing keeping this city alive. If you take it, then everything here will die!”

Keith heard gasps from the others, but received no sort of emotion from Zarkon.

“So be it,” Zarkon shrugged, “Looks like there’ll be more shares for the rest of you!” Zarkon yelled out, causing the crew present to cheer.

Zarkon waved his hands causing several of the remaining crew members to point their guns at Pidge, Hunk, and Shay.

“I will not leave here without my prize,” Zarkon murmured menacingly. He looked down at the King, who was still on the ground and clutching his cheek. “Now, back to business.”

Zarkon stood over the King and pressed his foot on his shoulder, holding him down. Zarkon bent down to him and pressed his revolver on the King’s shoulder.

“Do whatever you want to me,” the King growled, “I’ll never tell you where it is.”

“Hmm, as appealing as that sounds,” Zarkon said, raising his arm to aim his gun at the Princess, “I’m willing to give you more incentive than that.”

“Don’t you dare harm her!” the King shouted.

The next thing that happened seemed to happen in slow motion. Keith watched in horror as the King reached into his robes to pull out a dagger. The glint from it caught Zarkon’s attention and he moved to push the knife out of the way as Haggar aimed her gun at the King.

As Zarkon moved to pin down King Alfor’s wrist, Haggar shot her gun at the same time. She managed to just miss Zarkon’s hand and hit King Alfor’s arm. The pain from the gunshot forced King Alfor to let go of the dagger just as Zarkon pushed his wrist, causing the dagger to skid away.

The King’s and the Princesses’s screams mingled together.

Zarkon stood up and walked over to where the knife landed and bent down to pick it up.

“How foolish,” Zarkon said as he walked back to King Alfor, who was cradling his wounded arm across his chest. Zarkon stepped on the King’s wound, effectively pinning him down as he did so.

King Alfor screamed out in pain as Zarkon applied pressure to it.

“I will not ask again,” Zarkon said, twisting his foot. King Alfor’s screams filled the hall. “ _Where is it?_ ”

“Please! Stop hurting him!” the Princess pleaded, tears streaming down her face.

King Alfor grit his teeth and took a deep breath. He looked over at his daughter and gave her a weak smile as he spoke to her in Altean, “ _Do not worry, daughter. Everything with be alright._ ”

He looked back up at Zarkon and snarled, “I’d rather die than tell you.”

Zarkon shrugged. “So be it.”

Zarkon raised the dagger up in the air and, ignoring Princess Allura’s screams, plunged the dagger into King Alfor’s chest.

The room exploded with screams and objections from Keith and the others.

“ _Quiet!_ ” Zarkon’s voice boomed throughout the room, silencing everyone. The only sound in the room being the sobs Princess Allura couldn’t stop.

Zarkon moved to the throne and slowly sat down.

He seemed to noticed something, because he stood up straight and squinted his eyes at something in front of him. He pulled out the missing page of the Journal and held it out in front of him.

“How curious.” he murmured.

“What is it?” Haggar asked.

“‘The path to the crystal is seen through the eyes of the throne’,” Zarkon stated as he stood up and walked to the stepping stones in the water. “The stones form the Altean symbol. The pattern can only be seen when sitting on the throne.”

He bent down to pick up a small stone and threw it in the middle of the pond. A small circle then started to vibrate and then stop.

“Haggar, bring Keith and the Altean boy!” Zarkon barked, and then looked over at the Princess, “And bring the Princess to me.”

The crew holding the Princess quickly pried her away from Shiro and pushed her to Zarkon, who roughly pulled her with him.

Haggar quickly dismissed the men holding Keith and Lance and pulled them to join Zarkon’s side.

Keith looked around and his eyes landed on Shiro and then he looked over at the others. They stared back at him with guilt ridden faces, causing Keith to look down at the ground in anger.

Zarkon then pulled the Princess with him on the platform and, as it started to descend, Haggar pulled Keith and Lance onto it with her.

With Haggar and Zarkon aiming their guns at Keith, Lance, and the Princess, they slowly descended into the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That Zarkon... What an asshole>:( 0 to 100 real quick0.o Not everything can be sunshine and rainbows, though:P 
> 
> Don't forget to leave a kudo or a comment if you want to make a writer's day:)
> 
> Credits  
> Artist: Elidanus ([Tumblr](http://elidanus.tumblr.com/)/[Twitter](https://twitter.com/kdiffin2/))  
> Beta: Emmie ([Tumblr](http://moonlovingvampire.tumblr.com/)/[Ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonlovingvampire))  
> Me: Coco ([Tumblr](http://cocopbblez.tumblr.com/))
> 
> If you want to read any other stories from the Big Bang, go [Here](http://klancebb2017.tumblr.com/). There are tons of other stories there that deserve some lovin', too.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emmie's working on her own stuff, so this chapter won't be beta'd:P I'll update when she gets around to it. Hope you all enjoy in the meantime:)

Haggar pulled out her gun and maneuvered herself around Lance so she could to stand next to Zarkon. As she stood by his side, she raised her gun to point it at the three of them while Zarkon stood there with his arms crossed over his broad chest.

The three of them raised their hands in surrender so as to not give Haggar and Zarkon reason to shoot.

As the circle descended, the water from the makeshift pond in the throne room started pooling into the area, creating a shallow pool that reached their ankles.

Keith noticed that some of the water emptied out the side of it.

It started getting darker and darker the deeper they descended, but all of a sudden the area seemed to open up into a giant underground area which cast a soft blue light onto everyone on the circle.

Keith turned to squint at the light and was amazed by the beauty of what awaited them.

There was a giant crystal that seemed to be in a sort of liquid state floating high up in the air a ways away in the back of the cave. Surrounding it was five giant, floating rocks with what seemed to be faces carved into them. The carvings in the rocks were glowing with the same light as what the crystal was emitting out.

“By the Ancients…” Keith heard Lance whisper next to him.

The trembling of the circle stopping on the floor of the cavern surprised Keith, causing him to lose his balance.

Keith stumbled a bit, but before he could hit the ground, both Lance and Allura quickly reached out to steady him.

“Thanks,” Keith said. Allura let go of him first and turned back to Zarkon and Haggar to raise her arms back up, but Lance’s hold on him lingered a moment longer.

They locked eyes and Lance gave Keith a small smile and a reassuring nod, as if to tell him that it’ll be okay.

Zarkon coughed loudly, causing Lance to flinch and quickly take his hand off Keith.

Before Zarkon could say anything, Lance turned to face the crystal, quickly falling to his knees and bowing down. He kept his hands in front of him and he was muttering in Altean, as if praying to it.

“What is he doing?” Haggar rasped, “Get him up!”

“I’ve already told you how important this is to his people,” Keith argued, “You can’t-”

“Do as she commands,” Zarkon barked, interrupting Keith. “We have no time for this nonsense.”

Keith glared at Zarkon for a moment and then bent down to Lance.

“Lance,” Keith tried, but was ignored.

Keith could vaguely hear what Lance was saying, only catching one thing: _Please protect Keith_.

Keith took a deep breath and gently placed his hands on Lance’s back. “Lance, please. I know how important this is to you, but this isn’t the time.”

Lance snapped his head up in the direction of the crystal, and slowly sat up, turning to look at Keith with wet eyes. Lance quickly wiped away his unshed tears and nodded. As Keith helped Lance to his feet, Lance and Allura exchanged troubled glances.

“Now, how do we get that thing down?” Zarkon said, voice echoing throughout the cavern. Keith and Lance quickly stepped away from each other.

Keith looked up at the crystal and then lowered his gaze to the expanse of water that spread throughout the cave. The water looked to get deeper and deeper the further out it goes.

Keith looked around to see if there was a path or something they could take to reach the crystal, but no such path existed.

He thought back over his readings and the underwater cave murals, hoping there was something he read there that could help him.

His thoughts involuntarily turned to the kiss he and Lance shared.

“Hmm,” Zarkon hummed, sounding impatient. “Perhaps you need some incentive?”

Before Keith could blink, Haggar rushed Lance, grabbing his arm and jumping up to twist her body around him. The momentum from the action caused Lance to fall to the ground with Haggar straddling his back and holding his arm. She twisted his arm up and Lance’s shout of pain shot through Keith’s heart.

Keith quickly looked at Zarkon and then closed his eyes, grabbing his hair with his hands.

“Okay, okay! I just- let me think for a moment,” Keith started pacing back and forth in a slight panic as Haggar eased the tension on Lance’s arm and sitting up. “The wall carvings said something about how only someone of noble heart can unlock the power of the crystals.”

Keith looked over at Princess Allura, pointing at her as he approached her. “You. You were there 10,000 years ago. What do you remember?”

The Princess’s eyes widened as he stood in front of her. She looked back and forth between where Lance lay on the ground and Zarkon before settling her gaze on Keith.

She pressed her lips together and nodded as she looked over Keith’s shoulder, her eyes glazing over as she thought back to 10,000 years ago, “I was much too young to remember all that happened, but I do remember my mother.”

“Your mother? The Queen?”

“Yes, I was with her that day,” the Princess closed her eyes, her face turning into a grimace, “We were out at the market when we suddenly heard the hunters return, but they were yelling and blowing on their horns in warning. The men at the watchtowers started banging on their bells. I was so scared. I didn’t know what was happening, but my mother…”

Allura paused and took a deep breath. “My mother grabbed my hand and pulled me with her. She said we had to hurry back to the castle. Then…”

“Is this story going anywhere?” Haggar snapped impatiently, having moved from her spot on Lance to stand next to Zarkon.

“Be quiet!” Keith yelled, not looking away from Allura. He heard a snarl from Haggar, but she said nothing else.

“Then there was suddenly a bright light shining on us. My mother stopped and then she suddenly seemed to be in some sort of trance. I called out to her, but she wasn’t listening.”

Allura paused for a moment and tried to calm herself. Keith placed a hand on her shoulder. This couldn’t have been easy to talk about.

“She then started to rise up into the air. I tried as hard as I could to keep her hand in mine, but she eventually slipped away. I fell to the ground and I watched as she rose up to the sky, helpless to stop her. That’s when Lance…” Allura trailed off as she slowly opened her eyes. Her eyes suddenly widened in fear. “Lance!”

Keith quickly turned to see what was happening and felt his heart stop.

Everyone was so enveloped in her story, that no one noticed that Lance was slowly walking out towards the water.

His eyes were glowing blue.

“ _What is he doing?_ ” Haggar yelled, making a move to stop him, but Zarkon held out an arm to stop her.

“Let him. Let’s see what he does.”

“It’s just like mother,” Allura whispered next to Keith.

“Princess,” Keith asked, his voice shaking, “What happened to your mom?”

Allura looked back at him with a frightened look on her face as tears filled her eyes.

No…

Keith turned back to Lance as fear flooded in his chest.

Keith watched as Lance, without hesitation, stepped toward the water. Instead of his foot sinking into the water, Keith watched in disbelief as Lance started walking on top of it in the direction of the crystal.

Keith watch in both horror and awe as Lance slowly made his way to the area below the crystal.

He slowed to a stop under it and then turned to face them.

Lance opened his mouth to speak, but what came out was not his voice. Keith couldn’t even make out Lance’s voice over the several other voices that were speaking with his as he spoke in Altean.

“ _Do not be afraid, Keith Kogane._ ”

“What did he say?” Zarkon asked, but Keith was still reeling about what was happening to respond.

“Zarkon asked you a question!” Haggar rasped.

Keith quickly shook his head and looked at them. “I- I don’t know. I didn’t quite catch it.”

“Princess?” Zarkon questioned.

Keith looked at Allura, who was looking at Keith in shock and then tightened her jaw in determination.

“I couldn’t understand either.”

“You lie!” Haggar snarled, rushing at Allura, but Keith quickly stepped between the two of them.

“Enough!” Zarkon barked, freezing Haggar in her place as he continued to look in Lance’s direction.

Keith looked over just as Lance started to rise in the air to the crystal.

Soon, Lance disappeared behind the large stones.

Slowly, the rocks started spinning around, gaining speed with each passing second.

In a few seconds, the rocks were spinning so fast, that it was as if you could see through them, allowing Keith to see the crystal as it enveloped Lance. It shrank smaller and smaller until it took on his form.

The stones then started to slow down as Lance slowly floated back down to the water.

The stones stilled completely as Lance’s feet touched the water.

Lance stood still as one of the stones fell into the water next to him. The wave of water from the stone splashed up, hitting some sort of invisible barrier surrounding Lance as he slowly started to walk back to them.

As he walked back, the rocks crashed one by one into the water, but Lance remained unflinching every time as the invisible shield around him repelled the water.

As he came closer and closer to Keith, he noticed that whatever happened to Lance up there seemed to turn his entire body into the crystal.

Instead of looking into the calm ocean of Lance’s blue eyes, Keith stared in shock into eyes that were seemingly made out of molten lava.

As Lance finally reached dry land, he continued passed the rest of them.

“Hey, what do you think-” Haggar started to reach out to grab him, but Keith grabbed her arm.

“I don’t think it would be wise to touch him.” Keith warned, not taking his eyes off Lance.

When Lance reached the circle that lowered them into the chasm, it slowly start to rise up.

“Come on,” Keith urged, grabbing Allura’s arm and jumping on the circle with her. Zarkon and Haggar stepped on it not a second after.

“Don’t think you’ll be getting rid of us that easily,” Zarkon said, pulling out his gun and pointing it at Keith as Haggar pointing her gun at the Princess.

“You will not win,” Allura stated defiantly, “We won’t let you.”

Zarkon barked out a laugh. “You think you have the power to stop me? You are all more foolish than I’ve been led to believe.”

When they reached the top, they were met with Hunk, Shay, and Pidge still standing near the entrance with several armed men holding them at gunpoint. Shiro, however, had moved to King Alfor’s side and was trying to heal him as best as he could.

Murmurs enveloped around the room started as everyone stared at what Lance had become.

Lance continued to walk, not paying any mind to what’s around him. He didn’t even seemed to be aware of anything happening around him.

“Follow him,” Zarkon ordered and then pointed at two of the men standing off to the side. “You two. Run ahead and ready the container. We have claimed our prize.”

The men saluted Zarkon and left the room to do as they were ordered.

Allura spotted her dad and ran to his side.

Keith quickly looked over to Zarkon, thinking he was going to get someone to stop her. He just scoffed and walked with Lance.

Keith made to follow them, but Zarkon aimed a gun at him, stopping him in his tracks.  
“I have no more use for you. You stay here and rot with the rest of them,” Zarkon barked.  
Every fiber of Keith’s being refused to be seperated from Lance. The only thing stopping him from arguing was Lance’s parting words before fusing with the crystal.

He reluctantly stayed put, biting his tongue.

He couldn’t believe that thing was Lance.

The man with eyes like a  rainless thunderstorm, a dusting of stars spread across his cheeks and nose. With a smile that could light up even the darkest room. Someone who would accept him no matter how unworthy he felt of himself.

The man Keith fell in love with.  
Keith stood there powerless as Zarkon and his men exited the room, leaving him and the others alone.

Keith kept his eyes on Lance as they made their exit, not letting him out of his sight until the doors closed with a resounding thud.

Keith looked to his side where Allura and Shiro seemed to be having a moment with the King. He didn’t want to intrude on them, so he decided to leave the two of them alone.

He glanced over at Hunk, Shay, and Pidge and noticed that they were looking at him with a pleading look in their eye. Pidge made to run at Keith, but Hunk placed a hand on their shoulder, keeping them where they stood. They looked up at him in confusion as he looked back and shook his head, whispering something to them. They nodded and looked back at Keith guiltily.

He felt conflicted as he looked back at the three of them. He will never forget the feeling of betrayal when he found out they were a part of Zarkon’s plan all along, but they stood up to Zarkon and refused to go along with what was happening. They probably didn’t realize how far Zarkon would go to get what he wanted.

They’re still family to him and that means more than anyone could ever understand.

Keith sighed to himself and strolled over to join them.

As soon as he was close enough, Pidge ran and jumped into him to give him a tight hug.

“Keith, I am so sorry!” they yelled, burying their face into Keith’s shirt.

“Seriously, man,” Hunk said, approaching Keith cautiously, “We had no idea that it would come to this.”

“Hunk and Pidge are right,” Shay added, “If we had known it would have come to this, we would not have come.”

“Look, guys,” Keith said, pulling a confused Pidge off of him, “I just… need a moment… So much has happened...”

Keith trailed off and looked over at where Zarkon disappeared with Lance.

“We understand,” Shay said, “We are truly sorry for what has conspired and we will do whatever it takes to make it right.”

Pidge looked over to where Zarkon had left and scowled. “If we can.”

The thought a certain red ball of fur suddenly popped in his head, freezing his heart.

“What about Red?” Keith said, panic rising in his voice, “Please tell me she’s okay.”

“We found he just before coming here.” Shay explained, “We ran into Coran on our way to take her to Slav. We explained everything to him and then he took her while we joined you all here.”

“Oh, thank God,” Keith whispered, feeling like a ton of weight was lifted off his shoulders. “That bastard will pay for this.”

“Father, please!” Allura suddenly yelled, her voice cracking.

Everyone turned to where she was bent over her father and shaking violently. Shiro placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and she quickly turned to hug Shiro tightly.

Shiro froze for a moment, but then reciprocated the hug, closing his eyes and pressing Allura’s head closer to his body.

Keith looked down at the King’s lifeless body and his heart sank.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

Keith closed his eyes and hung his head, grabbing the hair as the side of his head. Everything was going wrong. There had to be something they could do.

“We can’t just sit here and do nothing!” Keith yelled, snapping his head up and throwing his hands down.

“But what is there to be done?” Shay questioned.

“Yeah,” Hunk said, “He’s got, like, a hundred men _with guns_ , a dozen armed vehicles, whatever he turned Lance into, w-what even happened down there?”

As Keith brief explained what transpired in the cavern, everyone remained silent. He explained Allura’s story and how Lance became, essentially, a humanoid crystal.

When he was finished, the three of them stared at him in shock.

“That’s crazy,” Hunk whispered.

“Yeah, it was even crazier seeing it happen,” Keith said.

“No kidding,” Pidge added with a scoff.

“The poor Princess,” Shay said, looking over at where Shiro was still holding onto, a now still, Allura, softly petting her hair. “First, she loses her mother at such a young age, and now her father is gone as well.”

“We’re going to lose a lot more unless we do something to stop him,” Keith said, clenching his fists.

Before Hunk, Shay, or Pidge could say something, Allura slowly pushed away from Shiro and stood up to look over at the four of them them. Her eyes were red and puffy and she looked like she was trying as hard as she could to look strong.

“I have an idea on how to get back at Zarkon, but we could never get them to work.” She said, casting a glance at Keith, “Maybe you can help us.”

“I’ll do whatever I can,” Keith said, “Whatever it takes.”

Allura nodded with a glint in her eye, “Then all of you, follow me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This just in: Zarkon's still an asshole:P I wonder what Allura's plan is0.o
> 
> Don't forget to leave a kudo or a comment if you want to make a writer's day:)
> 
> Credits  
> Artist: Elidanus ([Tumblr](http://elidanus.tumblr.com/)/[Twitter](https://twitter.com/kdiffin2/))  
> Beta: Emmie ([Tumblr](http://moonlovingvampire.tumblr.com/)/[Ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonlovingvampire))  
> Me: Coco ([Tumblr](http://cocopbblez.tumblr.com/))
> 
> If you want to read any other stories from the Big Bang, go [Here](http://klancebb2017.tumblr.com/). There are tons of other stories there that deserve some lovin', too.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys have no idea how much this means to me! This story's really blown up recently (probably because of ikimaru's amazing [drawing](http://ikimaru.tumblr.com/post/170289435647/commissioned-by-cocopbblez-for-her-atlantis-au) that I commissioned:D) Every comment, kudo, and bookmark gives me so much joy and I love all of you!  
> Emmie's hasn't gotten around to betaing this for me unfortunately, but she's involved in a Keith Big Bang, so she hasn't had much time to go through the story, but she's trying really hard!  
> Hope you all enjoy:)

Keith and the others followed Allura as she led them behind the throne. She squatted down and moved around some fabrics and boxes to reveal a small door built into the floor.

“We had an escape route built into the castle. I had hoped we would never have need of it,” She explained, keeping her back to the others and looking down at the small door..

Shiro came up behind her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. She lightly put her hand on top of his and gave him a reassuring nod.

She turned and started to descend down the stairs with everyone else following closely behind.

Shiro stayed beside Allura, holding her hand. Keith kept close behind them with Pidge latching onto his arm while Hunk and Shay took the rear.

Keith couldn’t help but stare at Shiro and Allura’s intertwined hands and his mind turned to Lance, wishing he was here with them now, holding his hand.

He thought about how warm his hands felt in his when they were sitting on top of the statue and how soft they felt while they were cradling his face as they kissed.

Keith snapped his head up as he recalled that Allura was about to say something about Lance when she was telling Keith about what happened to her mother.

“Hey Allura?” Keith asked. Allura turned her head slightly to indicate that she was listening to him. “When you were telling us about your mom, you mentioned something about Lance.”

Allura nodded. “Yes, he’s the reason I’m here today. During the chaos back then, after my mom disappeared, I was lost, alone, scared. I didn’t know what to do.”

Everything was quiet as everyone listened intently. “A boy my age found me and he accompanied be back to his family. They didn’t know who I was, they just knew that I was a young girl who was all alone.

“They took me into their house and let me stay with them until the catastrophe stilled. He went out of his way, risked his life, to help me.”

Keith scoffed as he tried to suppress a smile. Seemed like something Lance would do.

“My father and I were grateful to him and my father granted him any wish. He asked to serve as one of our knights, to continue helping people. My father gladly allowed him to do so and he rose through the ranks to command his own unit.”

Allura fully turned her head back to look at Keith and gave him a small smile. “He was very fond of you, you know. Ever since you arrived in the city, you were all he talked about.”

Keith stared hard down at the ground and felt Pidge thread their fingers through his for comfort.

“We’ll get him back. I already lost my father today. We will not lose him, too,” Allura said sternly and turned her head to look back in front of her.

They walked the rest of the way in silence, water dripping from the ceiling of the damp tunnel and their footsteps being the only sound.

Allura led them to an opening covered in thicket. The six of them worked together to rips off the vines and brush, little by little filtering the sunlight from the setting sun into the cave, until there was room enough to exit.

Once they were all out, Keith took in his surroundings. They were in a part of the forest he didn’t recognize.

“Follow me. Thankfully we’re fairly close to the market.”

Allura led them through the woods until they emptied out into the market.

Keith heard the faint humming of engines and the  pinging of something being hammered off in the distance.

“Hey, guys. I hear something over there.” Keith said, walking quickly in the direction of the noise.

“I hear it as well,” Shay said, turning to Allura, “We must make haste.”

“I agree. Keith, follow me.”

“Hold on. I need to see what’s happening,” Keith said, not looking back.

As he continued toward the noise, he caught a glimpse of one of Zarkon’s men. Keith quickly hid behind some nearby boxes and looked on at the scene in front of him.

Lance was standing in the middle of a metal container while someone was on top of it hammering bolts into place.

Several of the men had Altean citizens, who had stopped what they were doing and watched in horror, held at gunpoint.

It took all of Keith willpower not to leap out and attack Zarkon when he saw him standing in front of Lance with an amused smirk on his face.

What Keith wouldn’t give to punch the look off his face.

Keith glanced over at Lance as the man on top of the container finished hammering and hopped down. With the help of two other men, the three of them lifted the last side of the container up and fit it over the opening Lance was facing.

Keith watched with curiosity as the basketball-sized glass opening on the metal plate seemingly froze over once it was in place.

Keith looked over at Zarkon and snarled silently at him. He noticed Haggar standing at his side and felt all the blood drain from his face when she turned her head in his direction.

Keith quickly ducked down and felt his body freeze up in fear. He closed his eyes and strained to hear if he had been spotted or not.

“What is it, Haggar?” he heard Zarkon ask.

“I thought I saw someone over there,” Haggar answered slowly. “You two. Go check it out.”

Keith felt his heart race as he slowly tiptoed away.

“No need. Whoever it is cannot stop us.”

 _Fucking bet_ , Keith thought as he smirked and continued on his way. Once he felt he was far away enough, he stood up straight and quickly made his way back to the others.

As he approached where they were waiting for him, Shiro noticed him first and squinted his eyes at him, “Keith, I know you’re worried for Lance, but you can’t just go off on your own like that. You could’ve been captured or killed.”

“But I wasn’t. See?” Keith raised his arms up and held them out at his side, “I’m okay.”

“Yes, I see that, but the risk was still there, Keith.”

“Enough,” Allura interrupted, “What’s happened has happened and now we need to focus on how to stop Zarkon.”

Shiro nodded. “Allura’s right.”

Keith looked down guiltily, “Sorry, I just had to see what was happening and from what I could tell, we don’t have long at all.”

“Then we must hurry,” Allura said, leading the group back into another part of the forest.

“Why are we going back in?” Pidge asked.

“I had to get my bearings,” Allura answered sheepishly, “I didn’t know what part of the forest we would end up in after exiting the tunnel.”

They followed Allura for several moments before reaching a clearing. Keith’s jaw dropped at the sight.

In the clearing, there were dozens of contraptions that were made of the same white material as the castle and the houses. Each were shaped as various animals. Keith guessed they hadn’t been used in a while from the various vines that had grown over them.

“What are these?” Hunk asked, approaching one shaped like a rhino and ran his hand along it.

“Long ago, before the great flood, we used these contraptions to protect Altea from hostile forces and to travel far beyond our city to areas unknown to gain information to help us flourish.”

Allura looked down at the ground somberly, “But like many things, our ability to work these has been lost. We’ve tried everything, but nothing’s worked.”

Keith approached one shaped like a lion and inspected it to see if there was anything on it that could help him figure out how to work it.

He noticed something on the neck of the lion and he ran his hand over it. There was a circle etched into it and above it was a small, jagged hole with inscriptions surrounding it.

“Instructions,” Keith whispered.

“What was that?” Allura asked, approaching him.

Keith pointed to the inscriptions. “Right here. These are instructions on how to power these things.”

Allura squinted down at it and sighed, “I cannot read that.”

“Lucky for you, I can.” Keith said, looking down and translated the text out loud, “You place your hand on the circle-”

“Already tried that,” Allura interrupted.

Keith glanced up at her in slight annoyance and then looked back down at it. “Then you place your crystal into the slot-”

“Did that, too.”

“Do you want to read it?” Keith snapped.

Allura looked down at him with wide eyes and an embarrassed flush spread across her face. “I apologize. Please continue.”

Keith looked back down at it, “Alright, so you place your hand in the circle, insert the crystal in the hole, and with your hand still on the circle, you turn the crystal 90 degrees to the right.”

“It turns?!” Allura shrieked, surprising everyone around them.

“Did you figure it out?” Pidge asked.

“I think so,” Keith said, “Allura, let me see your crystal.”

Allura made to take the crystal off her neck, but then Keith stopped her. “Wait. You should be the one to do it.”

“But you’re the one who figured out how to work them,” Allura protested.

“But this is your culture. You’re the Princess of Altea. You should be the one to do it.”

“Oh, will someone turn the damn thing on already?” Pidge interrupted sharply, “We’re running out of time.”

Allura looked over at Pidge and then looked back at Keith. Keith nodded his head at her and moved out of the way to let her power it.

Allura took a deep breath and mounted the lion. Keith watched nervously as Allura did as the instructions stated with shaking hands.

Before turning the crystal, Allura took another deep breath and then turned it. Blue light flickered throughout the contraption as it slowly rose up in the air.

“It’s working!” Allura yelled excitedly with a giant smile on her face, “It’s really working! I can’t believe it!”

She flew it around the clearing while the rest of them cheered her on from below.

She slowly flew toward them as she descended and landed the ship in front of them. She hopped off into Shiro, who was waiting for her, taking her crystal with her.

Once the crystal left the opening, the blue light faded away as the ship lowered itself onto the ground.

“That was amazing!” Allura exclaimed.

“But there’s one problem, Princess,” Pidge said, “It powered down once you took your crystal out.”

“Yeah, if we need a crystal to power these things…” Hunk started.

“Then we each need a crystal to fly one,” Shay finished.

Allura rested her elbow on her hand and then cupped her chin in thought. She quickly looked up and snapped her fingers. “Come with me to the castle. There are some stored away that I can give to you all.”

Shay, Hunk, and Pidge all clasped hands, jumping and squealing in excitement. Keith scoffed and rolled his eyes fondly.

They followed Allura back to the castle, but as they got closer to it, the more they could hear a mass of people talking.

“What’s happening?” Shiro asked under his breath.

“I don’t know,” Allura answered back.

Once they exited the forest, they could see that hundreds of citizens had crowded around the castle and were talking amongst themselves. A few of the citizens noticed the six of them exit the forest and made a path for them to reach the front of the castle.

As they passed through, the sound of conversation faded away until everyone was silent.

When they reached the top of the stairs, the Princess gestured to one of the guards. When he approached her, she whispered something into his ear. When she pulled back, he saluted her and then entered the castle.

She then turned to the crowd, who were anxiously waiting for her to speak to them.

“I understand that some of you are concerned and confused at the current events taking place. It it my duty now to inform you as to what has occurred and what we must do about it.”

A murmur spread through the gathering and Allura awaited patiently for it to die down.

“I regret to inform you that my father, King Alfor, has regretfully... passed on.” Everyone in attendance gasped and looked around in shock.

Allura powered through, speaking over the people murmuring to each other. “The leader of the human forces that we allowed into our city was the cause of this unspeakable act. Not only has he done the unforgivable, but he also has taken a most sacred power we didn’t know existed.”

Everyone in the crowd started talk amongst themselves again. Keith looked over the crowd and his heart jumped as he spotted someone who looked familiar, but he lost sight of them quickly.

“The source of our power; how we work, live, and survive is through the power of a crystal bigger and more powerful than we have ever thought possible-”

“But what of my son?” a voice from the crowd rang out, silencing everyone. A crowd of people moved so the person the voice belonged to stood alone. The woman walked to the front of the crowd and looked at Allura with shining eyes.

Keith’s heart stopped.

_Her eyes… They’re just like..._

“My sons, his brothers witnessed what the humans were doing to my boy. What’s happened to him?” Tears started streaming down the woman’s face. “Why does he look like that?”

“Geneva, I’m so sorry, but Lance was chosen to be the protector of this city,” Allura answered, her voice shaking.

“What does that mean?” the woman, Geneva, asked her voice cracking.

Allura paused for a moment and took a deep breath through her nose before speaking again. “I’m sure you all remember what happened 10,000 years ago. During the Great Flood. I did not know it at the time, but my mother was chosen, same as Lance. The same power that protected us those many years ago has come alive again and if we don’t get it back, then Altea will die.”

Geneva gasped and fell to her knees. Several people pushed through the crowd to kneel down around her.

Keith felt himself tear up at the sight.

This was Lance’s family.

“We all must fight if we want to save this city,” Allura’s smooth voice rang across the crowd. “Fight against those who would steal our power, our livelihood!”

Everyone in the crowd cheered except for Lance’s family. Geneva looked up at Allura. “But what of Lance?”

“Geneva, I promise you, I will do all that is within my power to bring him home safe and sound... I owe him that much.”

The guard Allura sent away came back at that moment and handed a package to Allura. “Thank you.”

She turned to Keith and the others and reached into the box to hand out a crystal on a string for each of them. When she reached Keith, she paused for a moment before handing him one.

“I want you to lead us.”

Keith’s eyes widened as the blood drained from his face. “What?”

“You’re the one who found out about the crystal. You’re the one that lead Lance to it. You’re the one who figured out how to work the ships.”

“Yeah, and me finding the crystal allowed Zarkon to it and leading Lance to it-” Keith choked on his words as Allura set the box down on the ground. “And you’re the Princess.”

Allura grabbed Keith’s shoulders tightly. “I feel it in my heart that you’re meant to lead us.”

“She’s right,” Shiro said, moving to stand with Keith, “I believe you can do it and you’ll have us behind you every step of the way.”

“Yeah, we never would’ve made it here if it wasn’t for you,” Pidge added, “Because of you, we can save Altea.”

Keith looked at everyone smiling around him with such love and warmth in their gaze. Keith started to feel overwhelmed and felt himself tear up. “Thanks you guys.”

“Does that mean you’ll do it?” Hunk asked, excitedly.

Keith sighed and looked at him with a smile on his face, “Yeah, I’ll do it.”

Everyone around him and the crowd cheered.

“Now, what’s going on out here?” A shrill voice behind them asked.

Keith quickly turned and raced to him. “Coran! How’s Red? Is she doing okay?”

“Oh, she’s going to be fine.” He answered with a wave of his hand. “Slav’s taking good care of her. She’s a tough one.”

Keith hugged Coran tightly. “Thank you so much.”

Coran froze for a moment in shock, then chuckled and awkwardly patted the top of Keith’s head. “I’m sorry about all of this, Keith. If I had known this would happen-”

“Coran, don’t. It’s okay, we have a plan.”

“Well, what are we just standing around for! Let’s get a move on!” Coran exclaimed, earning a cheer from the crowd.

“Everyone who volunteers to help up fight Zarkon, follow us!” Keith shouted over the excited murmuring of the crowd. As Keith and the others headed into the forest, several of the Alteans followed behind.

The small crowd exploded in excitement when they finally arrived to where the ships lay in waiting.

As Keith went around to teach the others how to work it, he felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned around and was met with a familiar pair of blue eyes.

“You’re Keith, right?” Geneva asked.

Keith nodded. “Yeah. Yes, I am.”

Geneva looked him up and down and nodded her head. “Lance spoke a lot about you.”

She paused for a moment and then regarded Keith was a pleading look in her eyes. “Please... bring my son back to me.”

Keith gave her a stern nod. “I _will_ bring him back. You have my word. Zarkon will pay for what he’s done to us.”

Geneva gave him a tearful smirk. “Good.”

With that, Geneva left and Keith took a moment to look around at the Alteans who volunteered to help stop Zarkon as they said goodbye to their loved ones. He noticed Geneva standing with three other men and two women who volunteered to fight.

Keith’s heart skipped a beat with worry when he realized they were Lance’s brothers and sisters.

Keith one last look around solemnly and then climbed onto the lion Allura activated earlier. He rose up to float in front of the others.

“I know you all must be scared. Hell, _I’m_ shitting my pants right now.” Keith heard chuckling throughout the group. “But we have to make this right, he have to defeat Zarkon and bring the crystal back!” Nods waved throughout the crowd.

“Now, who’s ready for this!” Keith yelled, earning a resounding cheer throughout the group.

“Let’s go save Altea!” Keith yelled as the others rose up to join him and, together, they flew off to find Zarkon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS THE FINAL COUNTDOWN!! DOODODOOOO DODODODODOOO!!!
> 
> Don't forget to leave a kudo or a comment if you want to make a writer's day:)
> 
> Credits  
> Artist: Elidanus ([Tumblr](http://elidanus.tumblr.com/)/[Twitter](https://twitter.com/kdiffin2/))  
> Beta: Emmie ([Tumblr](http://moonlovingvampire.tumblr.com/)/[Ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonlovingvampire))  
> Me: Coco ([Tumblr](http://cocopbblez.tumblr.com/))
> 
> If you want to read any other stories from the Big Bang, go [Here](http://klancebb2017.tumblr.com/). There are tons of other stories there that deserve some lovin', too.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ngl, I almost totally forgot to post this:P I've been really busy today.  
> I wanna thank everyone who's left a comment and kudo. You guys mean the world to me and I love you all:)Just a word of warning, there is a part at the end with pretty graphic violence and some not so great gore. This is where the explicit warning comes into play:P  
> Emmie hasn't been able to beta and Elidanus's focusing on school, but I hope you all enjoy in the meantime:D

Keith felt weird leading all of these people in battle. Just a month ago, he was sitting in a shitty office in a goddamn basement just to go home to his shitty apartment that was falling apart at the seams. Now, he was a leading an army to recover the power source of an entire city.

He looked to his right at Hunk, Shay, and Coran and then looked to his right at Shiro, Allura, and Pidge and felt a bundle of emotions fill his chest. He had almost everything he could’ve ever wanted.

Almost.

“Down there!” he heard Pidge yell.

Keith looked down to where Pidge was pointing and saw a handful of armored vehicles disappear into the cave they arrived in.

“Come on! I know another way in!” Allura yelled over the wind. Allura led the group over the mountain and then dove down a hole in the top.

“What is this? A volcano?!” Hunk asked with a slight panic in his voice.

“If it is, then it’s inactive!” Allura yelled back, “It hasn’t done anything in more than 10,000 years!”

“Everyone, be careful nonetheless!” Keith cautioned to everyone else. Keith and the others slowly flew around the cave until Keith saw a giant air balloon with metal casing all around it.

The air balloon had one giant balloon in the middle and four smaller balloons circling it, each with it’s own heat source. The five of them connected to an open, metal box that had a walkway with railings circling it. On top of the metal room, which was probably the control room, had the furnace that kept the giant balloon inflated. Underneath the control room were three sets of blades spinning around to help keep the air balloon airborne.

Hanging below that on a long metal chain was the container they were keeping Lance in.

“Alright, everyone! Keep the men distracted while I confront Zarkon! Hunk! Shiro!” Keith commanded. Hunk and Shiro both looked over at Keith when he called their names. “You two are the strongest ones here! You guys are in charge of getting Lance!”

“Got it!” They both yelled.

“Go on my cue!” Keith yelled.

He waited several moments as they quickly, but silently drew closer to the ship. When they were within a few feet from the last armored vehicle, Keith smirked.

 _Surprise, bitch_.

“Now!”

Shiro and Hunk dived toward Lance as everyone behind Keith dived down towards the men on the ground. With a loud ‘whoop’, Pidge joined the Alteans alongside Allura, Coran, Shay, and Keith. Once Zarkon’s men realized what was happening, they quickly grabbed their guns and started shooting up at them.

Keith looked over just as Coran dodged a series of gunshots and Coran’s ship shot out a laser beam.

“Whoa! How’d you do that?” Pidge asked as they dodged the gunfire.

“I slipped and my hand landed on the hand… thingy!” Coran explained, “Let me try it again!”

Another beam of light shot out of the ship and and hit one of the vehicles, blowing it up.

“Huh, guess that answers that,” Keith said to himself. “Everyone! You can shoot lasers if you place your hand on the circle!” Keith shouted as loud as he could.

A few moments later, a flurry of blue lasers shot down at the cars and the people below. Just when Keith thought that they had the upper hand, several of the vehicles opened up and men started shooting out, piloting mini airplanes.

Zarkon’s men started shooting back at them from both the airplanes and from the ground. They had to get Lance and quick.

Keith left the area to check on Hunk and Shiro’s progress. As he closed in on them, his heart fell when he saw that they were still trying to get him loose.

“How close are you guys to getting him?” Keith asked.

“It’s hard to focus!” Hunk yelled at him as he tried to saw the chains with a giant bone saw. “With all the ships and guns and lasers!”

“We need a lot more time!” Shiro yelled as he held onto the container to keep it as still as possible while Hunk worked.

“I don’t know how much longer we can hold out!” Keith yelled back. He looked down and dodged some stray bullets from below. He noticed that when he did that, a bullet ricocheted off the top of his ship. It would’ve killed him if he hadn’t have moved.

Keith looked up and saw that Zarkon was aiming down at him with a gun.

“You guys do what you can!” Keith yelled at them, not taking his eyes off Zarkon.

“Aye, aye, sir!” Hunk yelled at him as he continued to try to saw off the chain.

Keith raced in Zarkon’s direction, aiming his laser at him. Zarkon deftly avoided the attack and shot at Keith. Keith quickly moved out of the way and, when he was close enough, swung his ship around to try and hit him with the tail.

Unfortunately, Zarkon ducked just in time and pushed up against the bottom of the ship’s head once it was over him as hard as he could, knocking Keith’s ship off balance. Keith had to hold on as tightly as he could, waiting for the ship to right itself.

Once the ship stopped spinning, Keith looked to where Zarkon was supposed to be, but blinked several times when he saw three of him. He watched as all three of them aim their guns at him, so Keith sped away as fast as he could.

As soon as Keith’s sight returned to normal, he raced around the outside of the railing with Zarkon’s eyes following him as he did so. Once the control room blocked their view of each other, Keith dipped under the railing instead of continuing around.

When he was clear of the blades, he pulled up on his ship and sped up to where Zarkon was standing. Just as he hoped, Zarkon was staring at the spot where Keith disappeared as if expecting that Keith was stupid enough to keep going around it.

Because of this, Zarkon’s back was to Keith, allowing Keith the opportunity to jump off his ship and jump towards Zarkon.

Keith was able to grab Zarkon’s head and use his momentum and body weight to spin around and flip Zarkon over him, causing Zarkon to land on his back with a loud clang. Keith, on the other hand, was able to do a small somersault and land safely in a kneeling position.

Zarkon placed his hands above his head and simultaneously kicked off with his legs to jump into a standing position.

“I’ll have to hand it to you,” Zarkon said calmly, turning to face Keith with a smirk on his face as he dusted his hands off and popped his neck, “That was a pretty good move.”

Keith stood up and took a fighting stance, but suddenly felt an arm wrap around his neck, holding him in a headlock. He was slammed face first into the wall of the control room, but he was able to turn his head slightly to avoid his face being crushed.

“But not good enough,” Keith heard Haggar whisper into his ear, taking Keith off the wall only to slam him back into it.

Keith struggled to get out of her grip, but it was impossible while he was in this position.

“How does it feel?” Keith heard Zarkon say.

Keith watched as Zarkon calmly walked to him and slightly bowed so he was eye level with Keith.

“How does it feel to know that all of this was possible because of you.” Zarkon said with an amusing glint in his eye, “Because of you, your _friend_ ,” Zarkon chuckled, “will die along with his people. And you helped make it possible.”

“Go to hell,” Keith growled, spitting in Zarkon’s face.

“How _dare_ you! You insolent-” Haggar began to say before she was interrupted by what felt like a giant explosion. The explosion caused the whole air balloon to shake violently, weakening Haggar’s hold on him. Before she could regain herself, Keith threw his head back as fast and as hard as possible.

Keith felt the back of his head make contact with Haggar’s face, making a satisfying crack. Haggar yelled out in pain and backed away too lean against the railing, holding her hands up to her face.

“You _dare_ lay a hand on my _wife_!” Zarkon yelled, kneeing Keith in the stomach and punching him in the face. Keith’s sight blackened for a moment as he fell to the ground in pain and vomited into the grated floor. Zarkon kicked Keith in the stomach once more before moving over to tend to his wife.

Keith fell flat on the floor in pain, his vision coming back to him, but blurry. As he looked through the grating below him, he could barely make out Hunk and Shiro still down there. Hunk, having lost his grip during the explosion, holding onto the chain with one hand and Shiro struggling to help Hunk back up.

Past them, Keith watched as two Altean ships blow up just seconds apart from each other as the gunshots from Zarkon’s men made contact with them. He couldn’t tell if either person was someone he knew or not.

He looked back down at Hunk and Shiro, but was staring at the container Lance was being held in.

No.

He couldn’t give up now. Lance was the only hope the Alteans had left. They needed him.

Keith needed him.

He slowly pushed himself up and, using the wall as support, got to his feet. Zarkon was too preoccupied with Haggar to notice him. Keith glared over at the two of them and quickly crouched to spin with one leg out.

Haggar saw Keith before Zarkon did and she instinctively pushed Zarkon out of the way, causing Keith’s foot to catch onto her ankle.

Keith pulled her leg out from under her and, while her balance was off, Keith grabbed the leg he hooked and raised it as high as he could and pushed.

Haggar fell over the other side of the railing and fell with a scream.

“ _NO_!” Zarkon yelled down as she fell, powerless as her screams faded out amongst the chaos surrounding them.

Zarkon turned back to him with fire in his eyes. “You’ll pay for that you useless little fa-”

Before he could finish, another explosion wracked the air balloon, causing the two of them to lose their footing. Keith fell to the ground again just in time to see a flare rise up from the floor. The flare soared straight up and hit the blades spinning around the bottom of the control room.

The shot exploded upon contact, causing the bottommost blades to break off. One of the blades soared of in a random direction while the other one bent and was lodged between the other two propellers.

“Hunk! Shiro! Get out of here! It’s not safe for you guys!” Keith screamed as loud as he could.

“What about Lance?” Shiro screamed back.

“I’ll figure it out! But you guys need to leave! _Now!_ ”

They reluctantly nodded and climbed back on their ships and joined the rest of them, leaving Keith completely alone with Zarkon.

Zarkon grabbed Keith by the back of his neck and slammed him up against the wall. “You will pay dearly for what you’ve done. You and the rest of your friends.” Zarkon pulled Keith back and slammed him back into the wall. “I _swear_ it.”

Zarkon let go of his neck and grabbed Keith’s upper arms, lifting him up in the air. Keith struggled as much as he could, but Zarkon’s grip didn’t waver one bit. Just as Zarkon threw him over the railing, a third explosion shook the control room again.

Zarkon lost his footing and wasn’t able to use his full strength to fully throw him off, allowing Keith to grab a hold of the bottommost rung of the railing on his way down.

Zarkon looked down at him with absolute fury and swung over the railing. Keith quickly maneuvered himself down and slipped past the stuck blades to slide down the chain holding Lance. Once his feet hit metal, Keith looked up and saw Zarkon starting to do the same.

Keith heard several gunshots ring against the metal container, so he scurried to the chain holding Lance up and tried to make himself as small as possible. Once it ended, he leaned over the side and noticed that one of the gunshots rochioched off the glass, leaving it cracked.

Keith looked up in time to see Zarkon sliding down the chain, so Keith quickly climbed down the container until he was hugging it. His feet stayed on the thin edge of the bottom and his face was right in front of the glass. Keith heard Zarkon grunt and he instinctively ducked his head, allowing Zarkon’s foot to just miss him and hit the glass instead, breaking it.

Keith lifted his head back up and noticed that a relatively large shard of glass remained and the tip of it was stained with some essence of the crystal. He grabbed the shard and wiggled it out, ignoring the pain in his hand while also carefully keeping his hand away from the essence.

Once he freed the shard, he felt his hair get yanked up and he instinctively gripped the shard tightly, feeling it cut through his flesh. He slashed out blindly, cutting across Zarkon’s arm and feeling blood streak onto his face. Keith heard him cry out in pain and he looked up to see Zarkon cradling his arm in his hand, screaming.

Keith lifted himself up so he was standing above Zarkon and noticed that Zarkon’s arm was turning blue. Keith felt satisfying rage build in him.

“This is for Altea!” Keith yelled, swiping the glass across Zarkon’s other arm, earning a agonizing shout from him.

Keith maneuvered around him and slashed him across the back, “That was for Red!”

He then bent down and grabbed Zarkon’s forehead so he could angle the shard below Zarkon’s neck. “And this is for Lance,” Keith whispered in his ear as he swiped the shard across his throat, feeling blood spurt out. Keith held onto him as he convulsed against him until he finally stilled. Keith pushed him away from him and stood up as he panted.

Keith tossed the shard away and glanced down at his hand. There were severely deep cuts from where he was gripping the shard, but they were hard to see because of all the blood coating his hand and running down his arm. He bent down to rip off a string of fabric from Zarkon’s clothes and used it to clean the blood. He then ripped off another strip and used it to wrap around his hand.

Now, was the matter of freeing Lance.

Keith climbed up the chain, doing his best to ignore the pain and throbbing in his injured hand. He hoped there was something in the control room that could help him detach the container from the ship.

Just as he was about to clear the blades, he felt something grab onto his ankle. He looked down and screamed when he saw Zarkon, completely transformed into the crystal material except for the places Keith cut him, the wounds glowing red instead.

Thankfully, Keith’s pants were stopping Zarkon from directly touching Keith’s skin. Zarkon let out a screech that sounded inhuman, like someone was scratching metal with a knife.

Keith raised his foot up as much as he could and slammed it down quickly on Zarkon’s face, knocking Zarkon off balance, freeing Keith’s ankle. Keith hurried up the chain until he reached the top, but had no way of reaching the metal walkways above him.

He looked down as Zarkon was wildly making his way to Keith. Keith looked around to see if there was anything he could do and his eyes landed on the bent blade stopping the other blade’s rotation. Keith swung around and lowered himself so he was closer to it and kicked at the blade.

Zarkon reached out to Keith, but was too big to move past the unmoving blades. Instead of trying to get over it, Zarkon stayed where he was and continued to reach for Keith. Keith continued to kick at the blade, loosening it little by little.

Once the blade was loose enough that one more kick would free it, Keith felt Zarkon grab onto his jacket and pull him down. Keith’s grip on the chain almost let up, but he instinctively swung around as his injured hand grabbed onto the chain.

Keith closed his eyes as white, hot pain seared through him and swung his leg out blindly, thanking every god he could think of when he felt it connect with the blade.

As the blade flew out, the other blades suddenly started revolving with Zarkon stuck between them. The grip on Keith’s jacket suddenly disappeared and Keith opened his eyes just in time to see pieces of Zarkon fall to the floor of the cave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dunno about you guys, but I'm so happy Zarkon's gone:) Motherfucker deserved it. Also, the part with Keith and the glass at the end is one of the things I hate most in the world. It hurt me to write because I hate shit like that so much. Really gets under my skin (Hahaha, funny joke but not really 'cause I hATE it).
> 
> Don't forget to leave a kudo or a comment if you want to make a writer's day:)
> 
> Credits  
> Artist: Elidanus ([Tumblr](http://elidanus.tumblr.com/)/[Twitter](https://twitter.com/kdiffin2/))  
> Beta: Emmie ([Tumblr](http://moonlovingvampire.tumblr.com/)/[Ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonlovingvampire))  
> Me: Coco ([Tumblr](http://cocopbblez.tumblr.com/))
> 
> If you want to read any other stories from the Big Bang, go [Here](http://klancebb2017.tumblr.com/). There are tons of other stories there that deserve some lovin', too.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whelp, this is it. The last chapter. Let's go.

Keith felt his body go slack after the last remnants of Zarkon disappeared out of his view. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the chain.

It’s over. He’s finally gone.

He looked up and noticed that the chain was hooked to the bottom of the control room.

“Keith!” he heard Shiro shout behind him. He turned his head and saw Shiro flying to him. “You look like hell! What happened?”

“I’ve been through hell. That’s what happened.”

Shiro slowed as he drew closer to Keith, stopping right next to him. Just as Keith was about to climb onto Shiro’s ship, the fourth balloon exploded, rocking the air balloon. Keith took his hand back, grabbing onto the chain and held on until the shaking stopped.

“Keith! We need to hurry up! The air balloon is losing altitude and fast!” Shiro yelled at him.

Keith jumped onto Shiro’s ship. “We still need to get Lance!”

“How?” Shiro yelled back.

“I have an idea! Find Allura and the others! We’re going to need their help!”

Shiro nodded and took off to gather the others, both him and Keith yelling at any Alteans along the way to make their escape. They found Pidge and Hunk fighting together first and then found Allura shooting an airplane that was on Shay and Coran’s ass.

Keith took a deep breath, relieved that they were all still alive.

“We need to hurry back and get Lance before the ship crashes into the ground!” Keith yelled.

“We better make it quick!” Coran yelled after him, “If this really is a volcano, then when it crashes, the explosion could be powerful enough to activate it!”

“If that happens, then Lance may be the only one who can help!” Allura added.

“Then let’s go get him and get him out of here!” Keith yelled, urging Shiro to head to the air balloon.

Judging from how low the air balloon had gotten and how fast it was falling, they only had a few minutes to get Lance out of there.

“Hunk, Shiro, and Shay! You three stay below Lance and keep him steady on your ships so he doesn’t fall when we unhook him! Allura, let me get on your ship and then you, Pidge, Coran, and I will unhook him and secure the chain on Pidge’s ship!”

“On it!” Hunk yelled, meeting with Shay and flying down with her to steady Lance.

Allura flew to Shiro and hovered nearby so Keith can transfer over. As Keith carefully made his way onto Allura’s ship, Shiro and Allura reached out to hold onto each others hands. Allura quickly pulled Shiro to her and kissed him.

The two of them pulled away from each other as Keith steadied himself behind Allura. A dazed Shiro then flew down to join Hunk and Shay while Allura flew up to join Pidge and Coran.

As Pidge, Allura, and Coran planned out how they were going to secure the chain onto one of their ships, Keith looked down at Hunk, Shay, and Shiro as they got situated. He picked them to hold Lance since they were the strongest out of all of them. He knew they’d be able to hold him.

“Let me know when you have him!” Keith yelled down at them.

After a few moments, Keith heard Shay yell up, “We have him!”

The chain became lax, allowing Pidge, Allura, and Coran to quickly unhook the chain and wrap it around the tail end of Coran’s ship since his was the largest. When they were finished, Pidge tugged on it a bit to test the security of it. When it didn’t budge, Pidge yelled down at Hunk, Shay, and Shiro. “We got him! Let’s get out of here!”

The three with Lance slowly moved away, allowing Coran to get used to the new weight little by little. Once the three of them were away from Lance and waited to see if there were any problems, they sped up to join the rest of them.

“Alright, let’s get out of here!” Keith yelled.

Together, the seven of them sped away as fast as they could.

Once they were a nice distance away, everything seemed to silence for just a moment before a loud explosion rocked the whole cave.

Keith looked back and watched in horror as lava started shooting out of the hole the explosion caused. Keith looked down at the container holding Lance just in time to see a large rock sail through the air, hitting right where Hunk was trying to saw the chain before, slicing it clean through.

“No!” Keith yelled as he watched the container fall down to the ground.

“What happened?” Allura yelled at him.

“I think the container fell off!” Coran yelled. “I felt the weight immediately fall off!”

“Allura! Take me down there!” Keith yelled. “Coran! You, too! We need to get him back!”

“There’s no time!” Pidge yelled.

“ _Just do it!_ ” Keith yelled desperately.

Allura and Coran sped down to where the container holding Lance lay, Keith immediately jumping off once it was safe enough. As his feet hit the ground, the momentum from the ship caused him to move faster than his legs could carry him, causing him to stumble. He placed a hand on the ground to steady himself and then ran down to Lance, grabbing the end of the chain as he went.

He glanced past it and saw a wave of lava quickly roaring toward him.

He couldn’t think about that now. The only thing he needed to worry about was getting Lance to safety.

Keith steeled his nerves and started to wrap the chain around the metal container. Thankfully, it landed upright, only somewhat tilted. It made it easier to wrap the chain securely.

Once he finished, he wrapped the end of the chain over itself multiple times to ensure it wouldn’t slip off.

“I got him! Go!” Keith yelled, holding onto the chains as tightly as possible.

Coran slowly lifted them off the ground and then sailed through the air toward the exit just as the lava covered where they just were. Keith closed his eyes and yelled as he tightened his hold on the chain.

After what felt like forever of dodging rock formations and squeezing through small openings, they finally sailed through the exit, lava spurting out of it just as the last of the ships made it through.

They flew on to the city and they were welcomed by thousands of citizens who were sitting there anxiously waiting for them to return. As they drew closer to the city, Keith heard the citizens scream and cheer for them. The cheers quickly morphed into screams and gasps of terror as they saw the copious amounts of lava that was heading right toward them.

As the group slowly descending, the crowd parted, leaving a huge opening in the middle of a giant plaza in front of the castle.

When they were grounded, Keith let go of the container and unwrapped the chain around it. As Keith started unwrapping the chain, Allura yelled out into the crowd, asking for something to use to open the container.

Once the chain was off, Keith and the others pushed it so it was standing upright. They all stepped away and then one of the citizens came up to them and presented them with tools to open it.

Hunk was the first to step up and take a wrench, the others following ensuite. Everyone made quick work of the bolts and after a few moments, the walls of the container fell away, exposing a crystalized Lance for everyone to see.

Lance stood there for a moment as gasps echoed throughout the Alteans. The gasps suddenly turned into exclamations of awe as Lance slowly rose up in the air.

“What’s happening?” Keith heard a familiar voice yell.

Keith turned and saw Geneva running up to them.

“The mountain we returned from is a volcano and our battle caused it to activate and erupt.” Keith said loudly enough for the crowd to hear. An abundance of startled gasps rang throughout the gathering. “The only thing we can do now is hope and pray that the crystal can save us.”

Geneva fell to her knees as she could do nothing but look up at her son. She then suddenly bent forward with her forehead touching the floor and her arms spread out in front of her. Many other Alteans saw her and then one by one, they all knelt down to do the same.

Keith looked back up at Lance and watched in awe as he started to glow brighter and brighter. Soon, he was just a glowing dot in the sky.

Then, Keith looked down at the ground as it started shaking violently. Suddenly, a loud crash drew Keith’s attention to castle just in time to see the giant stone slabs from the underground cavern break through the roof of the castle. One by one, the stones wrapped themselves around Lance the same way they did when Lance was fusing with the crystal.

When the stones were finally in position, they slowing started spinning around Lance once more. As they spun around Lance, series of blue lights bolted out and struck certain points around the city. Keith’s eyes followed one of them and he felt his jaw drop.

Keith watched in utter fascination as the lines carved into the giant statue he and Lance had climbed the day before started glowing blue. The statue then started moving, pulling itself out of the ground and standing to its full height.

Keith looked around the city as other stone giants rose up to position themselves to stand at the edge of the city. When all the statues were in position, they all raised their arms and simultaneously clapped their hands. As they slowly spread their arms out, a sort of blue light based shield grew from their hands which grew larger as their arms opened up.

As the barrier slowly grew larger and larger, it connected with the same barriers the other statues created.

The lava seemed to be trying to fight back, shooting flaming debris toward the city. As the shield grew, the debris would explode upon impact with the barrier. However, some of the debris made it past the barrier, crashing into various houses.

The lava slowly spewed out, seemingly never ending, flowing faster and faster the more it piled out. Soon, the lava hit the barrier and started piling around it. Waves of lava consistently crashed into the barrier as lava slowly inched its way over the shield.

The barrier slowly formed it’s way to the top, closing just as lava rushed over it, blanketing the city in an eerie red. Once the lava covered the whole barrier, it slowly hardened, the red fading away until the city was encased in darkness.

Everyone sat in an agonizing silence, wondering what was going to happen. After a few moments, a crack formed at the top of the makeshift dome. The crack branched out and spread all around it, creating patterns and shining light through the darkness.

Pieces of the hardened lava slowly broke away piece by piece until all remnants of it disappeared.

As if sensing the danger has passed,  the barrier slowly faded away. The stones around Lance started slowing down, the stones seeming to spin lazily around the crystal after a few moments. As the stones slowed, the shining light faded away until only a soft glow remained.

Keith continued to look up at the stones, waiting for something to happen.

After several agonizing moments, Keith’s heart leaped as he noticed something slowly floating down to the crowd.

He quickly positioned himself directly underneath Lance and held his arms out so he could catch him just before he hit the ground.

As Lance floated closer and closer, Keith tensed his body and gently hooked his arms under Lance’s as he slowly descended. He softly hugged Lance to him as Lance touched the ground.

Once his feet his the ground, Lance immediately went deadweight on Keith, slumping his head over Keith’s shoulder.

Keith’s body went frigid when he felt how cold Lance was.

Keith lightly shook him. “Hey, Lance. Wake up.”

There was no response.

“Lance, please.”

Several agonizing seconds dragged by as the two of them stayed like that until Keith finally heard Lance moan softly. Keith’s head immediately snapped up as Lance slowly looked up at him bleary eyed. Lance looked at him with a blank look, and then chuckled softly.

“Wow, they weren’t kidding when they said the afterlife would have the prettiest people,” Lance joked weakly.

Keith hadn’t realized he was crying until Lance raised a hand to wipe the tears away. Keith pulled Lance to him and hugged him with all the strength he had left. Lance hugged him back just as tightly as everyone around them exploded in applause.

Lance pulled away from Keith to put his hands on the sides of Keith’s face and pull him back in for a kiss. The tears continued to fall as Keith couldn’t help but smile.

Lance was here. Lance is here and everything feels right in the world again.

Keith slid his hand up to cup the side of Lance’s neck as he angled his head to deepen the kiss. Keith committed everything from this moment into memory, never wanting to forget any of it. The feeling of Lance’s hands gently holding his cheeks, how soft Lance’s skin felt under his hands, the feel of Lance’s lips against his.

He didn’t want this moment to end.

The kiss soon turned sloppy out of desperation and Keith pulled away so he could breath and leaned his forehead against Lance’s.

“So, about those favors I owe you…” Keith teased, earning a laugh and another fervent kiss from Lance.

“Lance!” Keith heard Geneva cry.

Keith quickly pulled away from Lance, feeling his face grow warm from embarrassment, to let his mom hold him. He completely forgot that they had an audience.

They started speaking to each other quickly in Altean, so Keith awkwardly stood off to the side and watched as the rest of Lance’s family piled around him for a giant group hug.

Something clasped on Keith’s shoulder and he looked up to see Shiro smiling down at him. “I’m proud of you, Keith. None of this would’ve been possible without you.”

Keith felt his eyes begin tear up again and he pulled Shiro in to hug him tightly. They were soon joined by Hunk, Pidge, Shay, Coran, and Allura.

The two families stayed like that for several moments before pulling away.

“Everyone! To the castle!” Allura yelled over everyone. “We have a lot to celebrate!”

More cheers exploded from the crowd as they all herded to the castle.

As his family moved with the crowd to enter the castle, Keith tried to keep up with them as looked around to find Lance, who he lost in the crowd. He jumped when he felt a familiar hand slide into his own.

“Looking for someone?” Lance whispered into his ear.

Keith smiled and squeezed his hand as they joined with the others and entered the castle.

When they entered, Keith noticed that Allura had apparently moved ahead of everyone and was standing at the top of the stairs that led to the throne room. She seemed to be searching around the room.

When she caught sight of the two of them, she smiled and gestured for them to come to her.

Lance pushed on ahead and cut a path through the crowd to lead the two of them to where Allura was standing. As they approached her, Keith noticed that she was standing in front of a circular table that was intricately decorated with eight chairs tucked under it.

“What is this?” Keith asked.

“This is the honorary table for those of you who rose up to help us save our people,” Allura explained, “We haven’t had cause to use it until today.”

“Allura, please, there’s really no need for-” Shiro started as he approached the three of them, having heard what Allura said.

“No,” Allura interrupted, “I insist. Don’t try to argue.”

Being smart enough to listen to her, Shiro laughed and raised his hands up in defeat. They were soon joined by the rest of them and they were instructed to sit while Allura spoke to the crowd.

“To all my fellow Alteans!” Allura shouted, quieting everyone in the room. “We are celebrating victory over those who would purge us of our homes, families, our lives. We stand here today because of these brave souls who risked their lives to save us from that evil. Please, help me honor our saviors!”

Allura gestured for them to stand while the room was filled with joyous applause. Lance, having not let go of Keith’s hand, tightened his hold on Keith as he waved to the crowd with his other hand.

Keith put his face into his free hand in embarrassment until they had the okay to sit back down, which he happily obliged to do. Once they were all situated, Allura spoke out once more to the crowd.

“Please, help yourselves to what’s provided. We earned it today.”

Keith was about to dive into the food that was provided to him when he felt something brush his leg. He looked down and was met with Red’s face a few inches from his own.

“Red!” Keith exclaimed, letting go of Lance’s hand to pick up the cat with both hands. He nuzzled his face against hers and then set her down into his lap. “I’m glad you’re okay, girl.”

Once he set her down, Lance gasped and quickly reached over to grab Keith’s injured hand and gingerly examined it.

“What happened to your hand?” Lance asked, making a face at all the blood that seeped through it.

“Yeah, about that,” Keith rubbed the back of his neck, “It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got time while I patch you up,” Lance rolled his eyes at him. “Again.”

Keith took a deep breath and started explaining everything that happened after Lance was turned into the crystal. He paused every other sentence to wince as Lance cleaned the wound out with some napkins and water. The others piped in after a while and talked over themselves to help explain what happened.

Keith was happy to let them take over as he scooted closer to Lance and leaned against his shoulder, feeling warmth spread through his chest when he felt Lance do the same. Lance pressed his crystal against Keith’s hand, healing it. When it was healed, Lance brought it up to his mouth and kissed the palm of his hand, causing Keith’s face to explode with heat and everyone else to make fun of them.

They then continued on with recounting the events to Lance, but once they got to the part of the battle, Keith had to jump in to explain what had happened between him, Zarkon, and Haggar.

He had to take a few pauses here and there to compose himself. Everytime he did so, Lance would rub a thumb over Keith’s hand.

He ended on Zarkon’s demise and the table was quiet as they all took it in.

“Well, what happened next?” Lance piped up, easing the tension over, “Don’t leave me in suspense.”

Coran then picked the story back up and Keith squeezed Lance’s hand as a thank you. As they continued to tell the story, Keith laid his head on Lance’s shoulder and felt his eyes drift shut.

He shut out the conversation, only focusing on Lance’s warmth, how he smelled, and just everything about him and how lucky he was to have him in his life.

Just before he could drift off into a peaceful sleep, he felt Lance lightly kiss the top of his head.

“Alright, sleepyhead,” Lance whispered into his hair, “Time to get you to bed. You’ve been through a lot today.”

Keith forced himself to push himself up from Lance’s shoulder and let Lance help him up. Red jumped off his lap and sat near them, ready to follow wherever they were going. They excused themselves from the table and Lance led Keith back to his room.

Keith struggled to keep awake, not realizing they made it to his room until he felt Lance gently lay him down. He was just about to let himself drift off to sleep when he felt Lance’s warmth fade off him. He made a grunt of dissatisfaction, causing Lance stop just as he was about to stand up. He peeked up at Lance and held his arms out to him, wanting Lance to be next to him.

“I don’t want to be away from you again,” Keith mumbled, “Please, stay with me.”

Lance sighed and then chuckled as he softly shook his head. He stood to go turn off the lights and then climbed into bed with Keith.

Keith nestled as close as he could to Lance and laid his head on Lance’s chest, wrapping his arm around Lance’s stomach. Lance slid his arm behind Keith’s neck and tangled his legs with Keith’s. Keith looked up at Lance and smiled, kissing the bottom of his jaw.

Lance raised his head slightly to kiss Keith’s forehead and then softly brushed Keith’s hair with the hand that was around his neck while his other hand gently scratched the arm Keith had around his torso. Keith felt Red jump up on the bed and make herself comfortable between the two of them.

The last thing on Keith’s mind before he drifted off into a blissful sleep was how fortunate he was to be able to find people he cared about, being able to call them family, how much he loved them and the man sleeping next to him, and how lucky he was that they all cared and loved him in return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for all the love you sent me whether it was through kudos, comments, reblogs, w/e. I worked really hard on this and I'm really glad you all enjoyed it:) Look out for my other storys. I have two planned. One I'm gonna write for the next Klance Big Bang and the other I'll probs make a one shot for in my downtime. Wish me luck:)
> 
> Don't forget to leave a kudo or a comment if you want to make a writer's day:)
> 
> Credits  
> Artist: Elidanus ([Tumblr](http://elidanus.tumblr.com/)/[Twitter](https://twitter.com/kdiffin2/))  
> Beta: Emmie ([Tumblr](http://moonlovingvampire.tumblr.com/)/[Ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonlovingvampire))  
> Me: Coco ([Tumblr](http://cocopbblez.tumblr.com/))
> 
> If you want to read any other stories from the Big Bang, go [Here](http://klancebb2017.tumblr.com/). There are tons of other stories there that deserve some lovin', too.


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